The Little Things
by Marchioness of Blackadder
Summary: It's the little things that count most. Ah, I decided to put up my own little archive of one shots. Endearing, ridiculous, and possibly fluffy slices of Pepperony. Besides, everyone's doing it. FULL ON TS/PP.
1. Unwelcome Intruder

**AN:** _Hello everyone. Yet again, writing is taking over my life and I am slowly seeping back into fan fiction. More now than before, I think, especially with this category. This little tidbit of a one shot came to me a few hours ago when the same incident happened to me. I have various problems of this same exact thing. And I thought it would be funny to see how our beloved Miss Potts might handle it too._

**Disclaimer:** _I own neither Mr. Stark, Iron Man, Pepper Potts, or anything else. Stupid lawyers in business suits._

**Unwelcome Intruder**

Tony Stark had been staring at the same model of his suit for the past five minutes with no epiphanies on how to strengthen the antifreeze coating of the gold titanium alloy. He frowned. This should not be that hard. It wasn't even a difficult problem. He blinked and could swear he heard the cracking of his eyelids. He leaned forward out of the metal chair he'd been in and felt all of his joints groan together in unison as he moved. How long had he been down there? Technically more than a few days, since he had taken to sleeping on his cot.

"Time, time, time…" Tony glanced at his watch and was surprised to find it well into three in the morning. He stood up, stretching his tired limbs, letting out a low, growling groan of relief. He shuffled lazily over to the cot, falling down onto his side. His eyes closed and relief washed over him blessedly in the most comforting way he could imagine.

And then it happened.

A high pitched, ringing scream ripped through Tony Stark's beautiful mansion. A scream that did not come from him. A scream that was undoubtedly female.

Tony threw himself up out of the makeshift bed, shouting from shock, "Holy Shi-"

_...Pepper?_

Tony's feet hit the stairs in record time, taking them two and three at a time to get up to the main floor of his home, to find his personal assistant cowering on the opposite side of the room, tears puddled in her eyes, jumping up and down, a cry of despair moaning from her lips.

Tony took her by the shoulders, instinctively pulling her gently forward. "PEPPER- What's wrong? What's going on?"

Pepper let out a whining noise and turned her face away from the sofa, pointing hysterically.

Tony looked. And saw nothing.

"Pepper, if this is some sort of joke, I swear to the living God I will fire you."

Pepper cried, "GOD GET IT _OUT_!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Tony exclaimed, not seeing a problem in his stylish, classy living room with the beautiful view. The fire place, the glass table, the pristine white sofa- with a smudge on it. It caught his eye. It was a dark smudge, very noticeable…

And moving.

Tony recognized the familiar shape, and groaned loudly. "You woke me to squish a BUG?"

How he hadn't fired her yet for jolting him awake as if the earth was imploding on them all, he wasn't sure. He also wasn't sure why he wasn't actually angry, as he would normally be when someone decided to interrupt him and his nightly meeting with a soft mattress. For some reason though, seeing his assistant with those tears in her eyes and explicit fear on her face made him forget ever being exhausted…

That quickly cooled when he figured out it was just a roach.

Pepper whimpered. "I fell asleep on your couch and I felt something crawling up my leg- at first I thought it was you trying to wake me up in some horrible way-"

"And found someone else instead?" Tony grinned wolfishly, which only served to upset his assistant more.

"JUST KILL IT!" She exclaimed, her red head frazzled.

Apparently being awoken by a roach at three in the morning wasn't her cup of tea.

Tony Stark shook his head, walking up the stairs. This was ridiculous. Of course he couldn't say no for three reasons. Number one, he'd never hear the end of it. Number two, it was Pepper in distress, and that was still bothering him. And number three, the least he could do, vs. her running his entire life for him, was to kill an insignificant bug for her.

Pepper watched him, fear in her eyes, still shaking from the shock of being roused so rudely by the infested intruder. "You're just going to LEAVE? TONY, I CAN'T-"

Tony barked, "I'm getting a shoe- calm down!"

Pepper quieted up, folding her legs up on the piano bench securely, making sure no other little infestation could make their way up her long legs. Pepper's employer returned moments later with one of his sneakers. He walked over to the sofa, brushing the bug off onto the floor so he wouldn't mess the couch up, and easily stepped on the bug, muttering something about, "…can stand up to a giant robotic suit that flame throws… but not a bug…"

Virginia Potts relaxed as Tony cleaned up the little mess, and came back in from the kitchen from dumping the remains of the insect into the trash, his shoulders slumped, more tired now than he was before. "There," he confirmed his conquest.

Pepper relaxed, smiling oh so gratefully up at her boss, shuffling off the piano bench over to him. "Thanks," she said, now sheepish she had acted so rash… rude awakenings weren't her area of expertise. Not by bugs, anyway. She leaned up and brushed her lips across his warm cheek in a kiss.

They both stopped for a fraction of a moment. Pepper blushed, but both of them ignored that. Tony would never admit how good that felt, and how ridiculously proud it made him that he could make her so happy with something so little. And Pepper would never confess how grateful it was to be taken care of once in a while, even if it was something done so small.

Tony sighed dramatically, his eyes wandering over her messy hair, unkempt clothes… "Yeah, well. I suppose a man around the house can't be of too much use without, you know, killing a few bugs now and then for a girl."

Pepper nodded, her eyes swiping the room for her purse. "I agree completely. Now, I'll… just… head on home-"

"Oh, NO you don't, Pepper Potts," Tony growled, his eyes a bit hard from lack of sleep and the slightest irritation. "I cleaned off that sofa, and you will SLEEP there."

Pepper frowned, put off. "There could be more bugs, though, and I want to sleep in a bed. Besides, if there _are_ more bugs, I'll just scream for more help-"

Tony scoffed, walking back to the stairs. "You are such a woman."

"You like it that way," she shot back surprisingly brave. It was probably lack of sleep.

"Right. I couldn't ask for a kiss, then, if you weren't. So- kiss for your hero?" Tony asked, turning back around, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"I'll give the exterminator my number when he gets here in the morning," Pepper deadpanned as she collapsed onto the sofa. She fell asleep a little easier now, knowing that if there _were_ any more bugs, she wouldn't be the one to get rid of them.

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AN: I love reviews. They make me right more, cute little pointless one shots like this one to let you laugh at... possibly drool over...


	2. Virginia's Secret

**AN: **_Goodness gracious, you all are so nice! Thank you so much for all the reviews, really! I didn't know one little one shot would do so much good. So let's see how a second one will shake things up. This is also based on something that happened to me today. I had a lot of money from all my allowance… so I went to the mall…_

**Disclaimer: **I own neither Tony Stark nor Iron Man… don't remind me.

**Virginia's Secret**

Tony Stark took the floating stairs of his beach house mansion two at a time, coming up from his work shop, wiping his greasy, nimble hands off with a towel, glancing around. Something was out of place. The TV was on, but the volume was down. No, that wasn't it…

"Pepper?" Tony called, lazily dropping the towel down on the floor, waltzing around his living room, one eyebrow cocked, his head tilted to the side. Where was his loyal, trustworthy assistant? Her laptop was put up, folded neatly on the white sofa. Her purse and cell phone, however, were indeed gone…

"It's only noon!" Tony huffed, miffed. It wasn't like Pepper to randomly disappear, and it especially wasn't like Pepper to just take the day off. Without telling him. Without a reason.

…unless…

Tony plopped on the couch. Of course when his rear end hit the cushion, he thought he could use a refreshment. He frowned, and just like a man, didn't want to get up enough to nurture his thirst.

"Jarvis, are there any cartoons on?" Tony asked, a set pout on his face, stroking his goatee, still trying to think of where Pepper might be.

"Yes, sir, Spongebob Squarepants is currently on the Nicktoons, as well as Transformers Animated on the Cartoon Network. Which would you like for your viewing pleasure?" asked the saucy, sarcastic AI.

Tony made a great show of trying to decide between two amazing animations, huffing. "Weeeeeeeell…"

"Please refrain from hurting yourself, sir."

"Shut up, Jarvis. Transformers, please."

"As you wish, sir."

For the next two hours, Tony watched the Cartoon Network, not moving from the sofa, going through fifty different types of sleeping patterns. From laying upside down, half off the couch, right side up, and his feet in the air, it was simply a quest to get comfortable. Finally just before Tony was about to get up to relieve his thirst, the front door opened.

Tony sat back down hurriedly, calling, "Pepper?"

"No, Boogieman," came a flat deadpan from his assistant. Tony frowned.

Pepper walked in, her heels _click-click-clicking_ on the floor as she walked into the living room, a few different bags on her arms. Her eyebrows raised at the sight of Transformers blasting on the television.

"Afternoon cartoons? I thought this was for the mornings. I'm surprised you don't have any cereal," Pepper stated.

Tony frowned. "Well, the least you could do, after _abandoning _me, your BOSS, you know, the one who controls your paycheck and keeps you from the unemployment rate that America owns, is get me something to drink."

Pepper stared at him for a long moment before shaking her head and bringing him a coke from the fridge. Tony blinked at it, wishing it would change into a tumbler of amber liquid, but popped it open nonetheless.

"What have you been doing since I left?" Pepper asked, walking over to the arm chair, sitting her bags down. "Or have you been watching cartoons? …Mr. Stark?"

Pepper looked up, only to find Tony's eyes locked on her shopping bags. _Certain_ brightly pink striped shopping bags, with hot pink tissue paper sticking out of the top, with shiny letters on the side. Pepper frowned. She knew it was coming, and shoved them aside out of his line of vision.

"What'd you get?" Tony asked, his eyes a bit… intense.

Pepper shifted, crossing her arms. "Nothing," she answered.

"That's a whole lot of nothing," Tony assessed, standing. Pepper sat, in response.

"It's nothing," she repeated, frowning.

Tony took a step forward. "Mm-hm…"

"Mr. Stark, may I suggest you order yourself some dinner? Or perhaps I could call one of your dates for a night out…" Pepper tried desperately to get Tony's mind off her _many_ pink bags, but her boss was focused, a man on a mission.

"I'm definitely hungry," Tony said, his eyes watching the bags, flickering to her back and forth.

"Tony I _mean it."_

"Come on, Pepper, you can't have thought you could bring those _safely_ into my home and not expect me to… expect something in return," Tony said with a devilish smile.

Pepper frowned. "I'd slap you if my job didn't depend on it."

"Why'd you go out for two hours anyway?" Tony asked, tilting his head to the side, trying to peer into her bags.

"It was a rare occurrence… I finished the enormous amount of emails in your inbox and decided to treat myself to a little extended lunch break," Pepper said, standing, taking her arm full of bags.

Tony and Pepper stood still for a moment, one mapping out her route of escape, the other his plan of attack. And suddenly both were in action, flying almost at each other. Pepper ran to the stairs, but Tony caught her by her elbow, grinning daringly as he was able to spin her around. Her bags flew around with her, the weight making her tumble back into his strong chest. "AUGH- TONY STARK!" She growled, wrestling against him. Pepper pulled the bags back, but when she did, Tony reached forward, now face to face with her.

Pepper stopped, freezing as they were in the most awkward position, their pupils only an inch or so apart. Their breathing synchronized and Pepper knew how to get out of this…

She flashed him a disarming, dimpled smile and Tony was melting at her whim. "Maybe if you're good, you might catch a glimpse of me changing," she said with a smile, leaning away, extracting herself from his radius with a few clicks of her heels, heading to the stairs.

"Really?" Tony asked, his dark eyes glittering, straightening like a little boy who was promised a new toy.

Pepper snorted. "Jarvis, make sure the bathroom stays locked for the next hour," she said, before shutting it behind her.

"Of course," The British accent answered.

Tony knew that if his AI could feed his creator a snarky grin, he'd do it.

Pepper shut the door, and left her boss with a deep pout, and a half empty coke.

"…FINE! BUT DON'T THINK I WON'T CALL THE CASHIER AND ASK HER MYSELF!"

Tony turned and skipped down to his work shop again after grabbing his half consumed coke. He didn't like the fact there was a woman undressing in his home. A very attractive woman undressing and then _redressing_ in something that would make angels sing. And the fact he was not viewing this occurrence, and forbidden to, was what really bothered him.

Though, it _was_ Pepper.

No, he was no peeping Tom, and he wasn't going to try to bribe Jarvis to unlock the door. That was useless. The stupid AI liked Miss Potts more than he liked Tony himself.

Tony sat down at his desk chair, slurping his coke obnoxiously, spinning in his desk chair, thinking about what Pepper might have bought, why she might have bought it, who she bought it for, then proceeded to imagine the possibilities… maybe it was the fact it was something off limits, something he couldn't have that made him want to rip the door open and demand she bend to his will…

Or maybe it was the fact she didn't have to tempt him at all, and still have him reeling with desire. It wasn't fair. It was NOT fair. She seemed as at ease with riling up a man, as Tony was when a woman got into bed with him. It almost took no effort at all on Pepper's part…she was definitely keeping Victoria's secret.

Tony grumbled and chunked the coke can.

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**AN**: Reviews?? Pretty Pepperony please?


	3. Lullaby

**AN**: _Hello, fellow fans. Yes, so I know the last one was a bit silly, but it was amusing to write. I'm starting to get into the more sentimental ones now, so hopefully they'll get a bit longer. Thank you so much to the reviewers, your feedback means a lot!_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Tony Stark…another depressing aspect of my life…

**Lullaby**

_Click, click, click._

Tony Stark found it one of the most reassuring sounds in the world. The little clicking of his personal assistant's stilettos on the marble floor was a strange and comfortable lullaby to him. As he was currently positioned, his face burried into the crook of his elbow, his arms and head laying over his work bench, the tapping of her heels lulled him out of sleep, but he quickly kept his eyes closed. Tony pondered the sound, hearing it echo warmly- no, the sound wasn't warm. It started an odd mixture of anticipation and flipping sensations in his gut.

Tony heard Pepper tap her code into the security keyboard and open the glass door, her presence peculiarly shifting the room's atmosphere. He couldn't put his finger on just how she did that, so commandingly yet inconspicuously at the same time. Tony heard her soft sigh, and could hear her shuffling papers on his desk across the garage. She was always working. Really, no one could conquer Virginia Potts in the business industry. She had cultivated professionalism to the extreme, and Tony found her sometimes to be a wolf in lamb's clothing if the occasion arose. A major turn-on, in Tony's book. He thought he'd mentioned it to her once, but he had the distinct memory that she wasn't too fond of his thoughts on the subject.

_Click, click._

Ah, that lovely sound again. Tony took a deep breath, feigning sleep, for the sole purpose of it being well after midnight, and trying to get himself to really go to sleep. However he knew Pepper was not down here to just shuffle papers, as had become her nightly routine when Tony stayed up late on the latest updates for his suit. Tony listened to her quiet steps, and kept himself from smiling. It was hard.

For years now he'd loved that sound of her stilettos. If Pepper ever had a soundtrack, that would be the opening of her own theme song. _Click, click, click._ It was all in all what Pepper sounded like. She was as neat and precise as each sharp snap of that damn heel on the concrete. But Pepper wasn't cold or mean, without intention of course. She had learned over the years to wrestle with the sharks, and Tony liked that about her, how she could juggle her emotions so well. Or maybe she wasn't juggling, maybe it was just Pepper being Pepper.

Tony also knew that the sound of her high heels meant that she was _there_. If Pepper could be one thing, Tony would have thought she would want to be omnipresent. Or maybe _Tony_ was the one who wanted her to be omnipresent. Maybe that's why the sound was warm to him, reassuring. She was always there. It reminded him there was someone to worry about him, someone who cared an inkling about him enough to _click-click_ her heels on down to see if he had fallen asleep over his work again.

Tony felt the petite, warm hand grace his shoulder blade, and just as soon he could smell her perfume. It was never alluring, and Pepper was modest in what she wore, how she presented herself. Pepper's perfume was discreet, soft, like her, and could hardly ever be detected unless one was close enough. Tony had found himself noticing the fragrance only once before when she had to do this same thing a few weeks ago. It was a floral, oriental vanilla scent that Tony could only ever identify with Pepper. It was graceful, and smelled just as smooth as he had imagined how smooth her skin might be.

"Mr. Stark," came the female whisper above his dark haired head. "Mr. Stark, it's well into two in the morning."

Gentle movements of her hand shook him "awake", and with a loud groan Tony pushed himself up, his spine screaming at him in soreness. Tony stretched on the uncomfortable little metal stool, feeling the blood rush back into his legs and arms, a burning sensation festering on the side of his face where the circulation had been cut off, and there was sure to be a red mark from where he slept.

"Prompt, as always, Miss Potts," Tony growled from sleeplessness.

"Of course," Pepper answered, moving so he could stand. Tony noticed she was wearing her coat and had her purse on her arm.

"Leaving?" Tony asked as they both walked to the shop's door. "Jarvis, lights out."

"Goodnight, sir," Came the AI's polite response.

"Yes, I thought it was time for me to go home," Pepper said, her own eyes a bit glassy, but other than that, Tony couldn't detect any sort of negative energy in his assistant as they came to the top of the stairs.

Tony nodded. "Did you get all you wanted to, done?"

"Not quite."

_Of course not_, he thought wryly.

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" she asked, moving to the front door, taking the time to turn to look him in the face. He wondered what she saw there, if it was just a haggard man exhausted from working, or something more, like he saw more than just his personal assistant, ever loyal and ever faithful.

"Yes, that will be all for now, Miss Potts," Tony answered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his washed out jeans, smiling tiredly.

Pepper nodded, and with that _click-click_ed right out the door, making the softest locking sound behind her. Tony wondered if she had ever been there at all.

…_click, click, click…_

Tony grinned.

Yes, she had been there.

* * *

**AN**: A little shorter than normal, I know. But I thought some sentimentality was good after the last chapter that was a bit silly. Tell me if you like it, pretty, pretty Pepperony please? (Just one _click_ away! ...yes, that was a bad joke, I know).


	4. A Call Away

**AN: **_Hi guys, it's me again. I just got back from seeing The Happening all by myself. I only say "all by myself" because no one was brave enough to go with me, and the only people who were was my friend who's in China. BAH! Humbug. Loved the movie though. I'm a huge M. Night Shyamalan fan. Mark and Zooey are excellent. However I just had to drag myself through _The Mist, _possibly the worst movie I've ever seen. Ugh. Another thing- I had another run in with a roach tonight. UGH! I just imagine my favorite super hero taking care of it for me though... it's worth it ;D_

_So, in dedication to one of my favorite DirectorWriterProducers, I bring you another one shot._

**Disclaimer:** Stan Lee did it all. I'm just a cheap copy cat.

**A Call Away**

Tony Stark had never been one to think about the afterlife all that much, but he was now sure that he had indeed visited Hell. It wasn't a huge room with fire and a little red man with a long stringy tail and a pitch fork. This Hell was dry. Dry and he could feel no wind, except the sudden blast of hot, gravel filled air. Hard, rocky terrain was at his back, and the sun was seeping into every crevice that it could, boiling everything in heat. Tony had dirt on his tongue, in his mouth, and coating his throat. Gravel and rock were in his eyes, and every time he tried to take a breath it was hot, dry, sandy air. He coughed, but that only made it worse. He felt like his spine had been pinned to the ground beneath him. He looked up over his chest only to find a huge mass caught on fire, something that used to be a vehicle… he could hear shouts… so many shouts, and gun shots… something was pinching in his chest, and growing into a festering heat that invaded his lungs… God, he was on _fire_…

Tony flew up in bed, gasping for air. His chest, glowing lightly from the arc reactor, was heaving rapidly. Sweat ran down the side of his face, drenched his silk sheets, and covered his hair and back. "Shit," he groaned, running a hand over his forehead, throwing the sheets off and padding into the bathroom. He hit the light and looked at himself in the mirror.

A rather tall, handsome, dark man was Tony Stark, but even handsome could be altered. He looked haggard, pale, his eyes a bit sullen with circles under his eyes. Not to mention, he was drenched in sweat. Tony leaned over the sink, running the water before splashing a cool wave on his face. It helped cool him off.

"Jarvis?" Tony called, grabbing a towel and wiping his face, running it through his hair.

"Yes, sir?" came the British drawl.

"What time is it?" Tony asked regretfully, sitting on the edge of the tub.

Jarvis answered promptly, "It is 3:48 a.m., sir."

Tony groaned, leaning his head back against the cool surface of the wall. He wasn't going back to sleep. His heart was still racing from the nightmare, and he couldn't sleep very long anyway before he would be up again. What was the point? He swallowed, and coughed when he found his throat just as dry as it had been in his dream.

Tony hopped up, throwing the towel aside and padding out of his bathroom, down the hall to the stairs, skipping down them two at a time, walking through his living room, which dimmed softly thanks to Jarvis, alerted by his master's soft footfalls. Tony walked into the kitchen, jerking the fridge open and shivering at the cold gust that seemed to sweep from inside, grabbing a bottle of water and closing it. Tony frowned, sauntering down the stairs once out of the kitchen, sipping his water leisurely like he would a tumbler of scotch. He tapped in his code and pushed the glass door open.

"Lights, Jarvis."

Suddenly the garage lit up, revealing Tony's messy desk, his line of impressive remodeled cars, and his cluttered work bench. Tony sighed, looking around. He was at a loss. He felt physically exhausted, but he didn't dare go to sleep, or even try. He looked at the couch and television, thinking it a tempting route to go. There was also tinkering with something to get his mind on lighter things…

Tony walked over to the hotrod, grabbing a blanket from the couch and throwing it over his bare shoulders and chest, sitting on the wheel. Now that he was there he didn't feel like working either. No matter how many bolts he unplugged, his mind was still spinning. He needed to calm down, to breathe, to forget. Tony felt a weight, maybe something akin to a large iron bar sitting on the back of his shoulders. It pressed down on him until he felt like he should be on his knees.

Tony grabbed his phone and hit the 1. The only person he had on speed dial…

Even at four in the morning, she answered before the second ring.

"Virginia Potts," came a soft, whispery voice.

Tony played with a wrench in one hand, twisting it in his hands. "Morning, sunshine," said Tony.

There was a quiet moment, and Tony could hear the quiet rustle of sheets, something being picked up, then a long exasperated sigh from his personal assistant. "Mr. Stark," she said.

"Yes?"

"It's three in the morning," came the flat statement. Another pause. "Is there an emergency?"

"Um… no."

"Are you hurt? Sick?"

"Well, no, no not reall-"

"Then kindly wait until I arrive at your home in three more hours."

Tony took a deep breath, waiting for a moment. What had he been thinking to wake her up? But the weight on his shoulders pressed down on him again and he struggled with his words. "I need you," came the weak reply.

Silence.

"Please."

Another pause.

Then Tony heard Pepper rustle around, sitting up and suddenly she sounded wide awake, worry and concern lacing her voice. "Tony- what's wrong? What's happened? Where are you?"

"Woah, woah, calm down," Tony said, his eyes widening, setting the wrench down. He proceeded to get up from the hotrod, walking slowly around his work bench, inspecting how cluttered it was. "I'm at home, it's all right, really."

"Damn it, Tony!" Pepper snapped. "Then why-?"

"I can't sleep," Tony said, sounding just as miserable as he was. It was a lot.

"What, did you have a nightmare or something?" asked Pepper, sarcastic (or as sarcastic as one can be at nearly four a.m.).

There was no response from her boss.

Pepper's eyes blinked on the other end of the line, and her voice was suddenly octaves quieter. "Do you want to talk about it?" she murmured. Pepper had never known her employer to talk about a dream or anything this sentimental. Things had changed though, drastically, after Afganastan.

Tony inhaled deeply. "It was just… it felt real, you know? Like I was there again, I guess…" Tony leaned on the work bench, looking at his hand. It was slightly shaking. He looked away, sighing, irritated with himself. "I'm sorry, Pepper, I didn't mean to drag you out of bed to hear my sad story."

Pepper replied quietly, "Who else would you talk to?"

"I hear shrinks deal with this stuff," Tony grumbled.

"You and I both know you won't go to one, so you might as well tell _me_," Pepper said with a soft smile. Tony could hear it in her voice. "It might be good for you to talk to someone about something like this, though. When you talk about it, it's not seared into your mind. Obviously you've been carrying this around with you. It's not satisfied with your time during the day so it attacks you when you sleep."

"It's not a monster, Pepper," Tony deadpanned.

"Isn't it?" came the reply.

Tony frowned. Why did she always have to be right? Sure this thing was eating at him like a flesh consuming disease. Yeah, he should probably go talk about it with a professional instead of waking his assistant up before dawn. So what if it took him more strength to get out a sentence about the entire experience then it did for him to launch a missle at someone. The simple fact was, Tony Stark is Tony Stark. He didn't "talk about it." Until now, that is.

"You know why I called," Tony grumbled.

"I thought you were in trouble," Pepper said, rolling back over into bed with a soft groan. "I can find you a psychiatrist if you want. You seem eager to talk about it now, of all times… God only knows why…"

"I already apologized for that."

"Right. So what would you like me to do for you, Mr. Stark?"

Tony fell down onto his cough, cuddling up with the blanket. He hit the speaker phone button and laid it up on the arm rest on the couch just above his head. "I don't know," he grumbled again.

Pepper was falling back to sleep, and he could hear it in his voice. "Why don't you try to go back to bed?"

Tony replied, "I can't help but feel it start when I close my eyes…"

Pepper felt a tug at her heart. She didn't like him like this. He was desperate, though he didn't sound like it, she knew he was. He had two ropes wrapped around either wrist and was being pulled in opposite directions. Pepper nodded to herself, picked up a knife and began to cut at both ropes.

"I'll stay on the line until you fall asleep," she ventured quietly. It was silly, but it might help. Her sister had done this for her once, and it had helped _her._ It was worth a shot, anyway.

"And what do you propose we talk about?" Tony asked, closing his eyes. He heard Pepper's voice. It felt good to know that she was close- in a way- and he laid his head down on one of the throw pillows.

"I could brief you on your schedule," Pepper offered.

"Miss Potts, I believe you could direct a conference call in your sleep if you had a mind to. No, I don't want to hear my schedule," Tony said, taking a deep breath against the pillow, before saying, "Tell me a story."

_He really is a 5 year old,_ Pepper thought. "I don't know any stories," Pepper said.

"A story about you," Tony said. "Maybe from when you were a child."

Pepper turned off her bedside lamp, thinking before nodding to herself, cradling the phone to her ear. "All right… the summer I turned 11, my dad rented us an RV. It was the worst vacation we'd ever been on. I was sunburned, 4 wasp stings, and found out I was _allergic _to wasps in a matter of two days."

Tony chuckled quietly on the other end.

"But there was one day in the two weeks we were there," Pepper recalled with a smile. "My dad took my sister and me down to the lake. He taught us how to fish… we stayed out there all day. My sister was afraid there might be bears out there, that far in the woods, and my dad and I started making up stories to scare her. Hikers gone missing and things like that just to freak her out. It was terrible of us, but funny. By the end of the day I'd caught 3 catfish. Before we left to go back to the RV, dad spotted a bobcat. It was beautiful, the way it walked. It was all the way across the lake, so we were safe… until my sister blabbed about it to my mom and my dad got a smack and an order to drive us home…"

Snoring on the other end of the line interrupted Pepper's reminiscing. Pepper smiled, and she laid her phone on the pillow beside her head, closing her eyes.

"Goodnight, Mr. Stark."

* * *

**AN: **Don't you love how bad vacations bring people together? It's fluffy in its own way… Review, please?


	5. Dried Roses

**AN:** _I grant you all a Happy Father's Day to your dads, best wishes and God bless. This selection I am about to grant you holds very sentimental value to me, aside from it involving Tony Stark. I am not going to dive into emotional turmoil with you lovely people. The only thing I will say on the matter is that I hold more stock in writing a fictional father on some days than spending time with my real one. (Personally I'll let it bottle up inside until I fly off the handle- I'm a redhead, too, to add to the irony). Please keep in mind, my one shots are arranged in no certain chronological order, therefore, please make no assumptions on the time spanses. I probably don't know myself ;D_

_There are two reasons I am writing this piece. I believe there are two aspects of being a father, outlooks if you will. One, a man is a father to his children, the most obvious, I should think. One of the most beloved jobs a man could have. The other is that while they are a fathers, they are sons, too. Father's Day highlights the past and the present, and I believe that it's a window into our families lives if not but once a year._

**Disclaimer:** This piece of brilliance (meant in a sarcastic manner) is accredited to the holiday. Bah, humbug.

**Special Dedication: **This piece is dedicated to Fort Snelling National Cemetery (random dedication, right? I know). On my spring break, my mother and I took a trip to see the Mall of America in Minneapolis, and we happened upon the cemetery through our waitress at the Olive Garden. Though it's random in location and perhaps it may be discreet and informative, I walked away from the snowy graves with more resolve than I've had in a long time.

* * *

**Dried Roses**

The headstones were morbidly beautiful to Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries and professional "man of the world." The cemetery itself was had a strange elegance about it. It reminded Tony of when a person finds charm in a simple country lifestyle. There's nothing glamorous or ostentatious, no matter where you look, but there lives something in it that you can not find anywhere else, and it's irresistible to the senses.

A soft breeze blew in from the ocean only a few miles away, and Tony inhaled deep the salty air, closing his eyes as the world seemed to pause, waiting with baited energy for him to breathe again. His dark gaze opened softly to look down at the headstones once more. Marble, he mused. Perfect and blameless for now. The words, which should normally seem cold when engraved, were delicate to him now. They mirrored each other, the same style and font in each letter, only minor differences- the dates and the names. The names. Beautiful names, rich and powerful for the man, Howard Stark, serene and elegant for the woman, Maria Stark.

Tony tried not to muse over the memories that still pulled at his heartstrings, but something worse was happening beneath that. The fact that, every year he aged, his memory of his parents was wearing down. Not that his mind was growing incapable, no, not that. It was the fact that he was making his own memories now, and they were replacing old ones. The knowledge was enough for Tony to sometimes throw whatever was in his hands to the floor and cease to exist. A selfish notion, and impossible for him to ever make, but it was something he used to yearn for.

_God, I miss you._

Ah, Father's Day.

For Tony, Father's Day was harder than Mother's Day. It was not a matter of loving one parent more than the other, or anything like that. It was the simple fact that he had more of his father to remember. Pepper commented once it was because Tony had more of his father _in_ him. It had been something Tony would never forget, when she said that to him, and he had laid in her arms that night, content to hold her and listen as their hearts beat on the same rhythm. Pepper was too smart for her own good, sometimes.

Tony looked around the cemetery, delaying his thoughts for a few more moments as he watched other people coming to visit their loved ones. The cemetery was enormous, now that he looked around. In every direction Tony looked, nothing but marble head stones traveled for miles and miles. He had to squint as he looked down past some trees, and still they stretched on. They ran down the black roads where cars lulled by silently, and they stretched up over hills as if smeared there by knives.

Tony looked back at the head stones. They were both burried under a remote tree, near the top of the hill. From here he could squint and see the curve of the ocean far away. It was like some picture that should be in a movie, he thought. The scenery was lovely, but God, did it hurt to meet it once a year.

"Okay," Tony murmured, nodding to himself. "This year, you get that surprise I told you about," he said with a wry smile, talking to his dad. "Pepper wanted to come last year, but the hill was too steep for her to climb. She's here now, though."

A soft wind blew as his answer, or that's what Tony took it for.

He nodded reassuringly to himself, and turned to look down the hill. The black car stood stationary, and he nodded at his personal assistant. Pepper smiled hesitantly, and began the slow climb up. She always waited patiently for his cue, and now that climb met her stilettos again.

Tony took a step back and to the side, and reached out to help Pepper up the rest of the way until she stood near him. Then, with careful tenderness, Pepper leaned down and set the little toddler on her feet.

Tony knelt down, drew his little girl into his arms, and whispered in her ear, "What's today, hm?"

The little girl was already wiggling in his grasp, her bubbling laughter making his heart warm to the extent he wondered if the arc reactor might glow brighter from it.

"It's Daddy's Day!" She replied gleefully, before giggling more. "Your hair tickles!"

Tony grinned, running a hand over his goatee, before kissing the top of her head. "I know, I'm sorry," he held her on his knee, hugging her to his strong chest.

Pepper patted his shoulder, and nodded. Tony let his little girl go.

"Here," She whispered with a smile, passing the small bouquet of roses into her child's hands.

The little girl wrapped both arms around the bouquet of yellow roses, and Tony pressed his hand to her little back, reassuring and guiding her to his father's headstone. She laid the flowers precisely by his name, taking all of her focus to do it just right. Pepper smiled, biting her lip to keep quiet. Tony grinned, so proud his chest could literally burst from it. How was it possible to feel so much joy in a place that held so much loss?

It was comforting for Tony to think that when you acquired joy, or when you were blessed with it, some loss in your life could be lessened. You are able to reckon more with the past when you are armed with the hope of a future. This year's Father's Day was not sad as the ones in the past had been, Mr. Stark realized. It was not lonesome or rueful. In fact, it was peaceful. Tony took a deep breath, and for the first time in a long time, he could actually breathe here. Sorrow did not clench his chest, and he wouldn't need to drown in Scotch when he got home. No, he'd go home and perhaps upgrade Jarvis, run a few scans on the suit, play with his baby, and then when all was said and done and night had fallen, he would make love to his wife. There was nothing from his parents' death that was constricting him now, nothing in their memories that brought pain. Only the comforting thought of the warmth of his mother's smile, and the memory of his father's amused, lopsided grin when Tony had needed help with a problem. Memories...

The tiny girl patted the flowers, before stepping back, leaning against her father. She looked up at him with his own dark eyes, and whispered, "Did I do it good?"

Tony kissed her little red head, drawing her against his chest again. "You did perfect."

Pepper knelt down beside him, leaning her head onto his shoulder, whispering. "Your father would be so proud, Tony," she entwined their fingers and gave his hand a loving squeeze. "I know we are."

Tony closed his eyes and smiled, resting his head against the top of Pepper's hair.

_Happy Father's Day_

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**AN:** Sappy? Incredibly. Review, por favor?


	6. Make You Move

**AN:** _Hello, all! Thank you SO much for your reviews. It's becoming the best part of my day, hands down, is reading what you lovelies have in store for me. I'm going to go ahead and say that this song featured in this chapter is one of my favorites, and when I heard it I linked it with Tony and Pepper... maybe it's just me. I'm sorry if this isn't up to par with my other stuff. Tonight was very stressful, especially after Father's Day, and I've had a migraine for most of the day. For some reason I wasn't satisfied with this chapter until a few moments ago... I'm still not sure if I am, but I have something that might make up for it. It's a secret...shhh, lean close...wanna know? ...okay, I'll tell you..._

_I'm planning a plot line for an actual story!_

_Now you HAVE to review._

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Characters of Stan Lee, song by Finger 11. Oh yeah.

**Make You Move**

He was never one for silence. His life had always been centered around noise, any kind of noise. He remembered the early days when his father and Obadiah were alive, when he was a child and could remember loud photo shoots, busy meetings, audiences everywhere that seemed to be the center of the earth. In college it hadn't been so loud. He hadn't been one of the regular college jocks or socialites that flocked in the neon party lights of smoke filled clubs with alcohol drenched peers. Now, in his present days, at the top of society, ranked as a genius, a playboy, and a renegade all in one, nothing was silent, nothing from the sparkling amber liquid in his shining tumblers, nor the roudy, crowd pleasing gambling raids he made every now and then, the booming heavy metal he played in the speakers of his garage when his mind was restless with ingenious ideas, and certainly it was never silent with the leggy brunettes or busty blondes that messed up his sheets. For all these years, nothing had ever been silent in the life and adventures of Tony Stark.

That is, until he noticed his personal assistant one afternoon.

For years, Tony had always associated silence with boredom. That was not the case, he found, as he sat up from working on the fiery hotrod in his garage, his shirt pushed up his forearms, up to his elbows in grease and sweat, and his thoughts whirling with images of his personal assistant. It all really started when he'd walked up stairs to hear her humming a song.

"What's that?" he asked, pulling the refrigerator door open, grabbing an icy bottle of water and pushing it to his lips, drinking the freezing nourishment with relish.

Pepper Potts sat poised and erect on the footstool in his living room, her shiny lap top in her lap and her blackberry near her naked knee. She also had the TV turned to Entertainment Tonight, scanning the news for any false reports on her employer. Pepper looked up, though, inconspicuously caught off guard. "Sorry?" she said.

"You're humming. You never hum. You never sing either, so what exactly has got you so entranced that you forego listening to _me_ and to hum a ballad or tune?" said Tony, sauntering back into the living room.

Pepper shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure what it's called or who it's by, but it has a nice beat. I heard it on the radio."

"Well sing some of the lyrics. The chorus, even," Tony offered, drinking some more of the water, his dark gaze watching her face turn a soft shade of red.

"I don't sing," Pepper said quickly with a sheepish smile, looking back down at her lap top.

Tony inclined his head, giving Virginia Potts a very long look over. Her golden auburn hair was pinned neatly in a bun, a few whispy strands framing her face nicely. Her dress was sleek and black, conservative to her knees, with a strand of twinkling pearls on her neck and at her ears. Her heels, as always, were a deadly height of four inches, maybe four and a half, Tony guessed… but he mentally took his thumb and erased some details. He imagined Pepper's hair down and wavy past her shoulders, her posture more relaxed and alluring. He dabbed some more flush into her cheeks, erased her skirt up her thighs a little and grinned at the picture she would make.

"I think you would make an excellent singer," Tony decided aloud, downing some more cold bottled water.

Pepper paused, looked up, and raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?" asked Miss Potts. On the outside she remained cool and collected, blasé about the topic, but inside she felt a warm sensation fill her stomach with knots of anticipation. The truth was? Singing was one of Pepper's guilty pleasures. She had a voice as smooth as silk, a lofty soprano's notes and a sultry alto's mystique that no one past her shower walls would ever hear. Tony's observation meant more to her than he'd probably ever guess. Or so Pepper hoped.

"Just instinct that comes with fine taste in music, I suppose," Tony said, walking back over to the stairs. "Try to find that song for me, Miss Potts."

And he'd been down in the garage since. That was at least three hours ago, and Tony was willing to bet Pepper probably hadn't moved from her lap top, but she'd definitely found the song for him. He'd had Jarvis play it on the loud speakers, expecting some sort of… well, he hadn't known what to expect. He didn't know Pepper's taste in music, so when the song started a tempting raspy guitar and crisp drum tapping, Tony's hair stood up on the back of his neck.

"Jarvis, I believe I have found one of my favorite songs," he said, cleaning off a wrench with a dirty rag he kept around as a spare. The song wasn't his favorite for the voice, though it was rather good, or the music, something he was really beginning to enjoy. No, it was the lyrics…

_Well I'm not paralyzed But, I seem to be struck by you I want to make you move Because you're standing still If your body matches What your eyes can do You'll probably move right through Me on my way to you _

And this was the main reason Tony found himself thinking of his personal assistant as he listened to the song. Virginia Pepper Potts, he mused. The silent, poised woman who was always professional, always precise and calculated from the way her bun was pinned at the back of her head to the way she spoke with her manicured vocabulary. It fit her well, the song did, Tony thought… and the more he thought (dangerous, he knew), the more he began to relate the song to Pepper and himself. It was oddly sexual, with thick tension between the words that mirrored his relationship with Miss Potts, and he picked up on it the moment he heard the lyrics.

Pepper's steely blue eyes were a thing to be reckoned with, it was certain. From one pointed, deadly glare in muted silence to a sparkling twinkle in her eye that made Tony's heart do gymnastics that would show up Carly Patterson, nothing could compare to Pepper's eyes. Tony raised his eyebrows at the thought, but couldn't help thinking it was delicious to muse about. _To think what that woman _could _do if she did what her eyes did…_

Tony suddenly experienced goosebumps.

"Is everything all right, sir?" Jarvis interrupted his thoughts. "I detect a leap in your cardiovascular vitals, giving you a pulse of-"

"I'm aware, Jarvis, thank you," Tony replied, finding himself breathless. What was going on with him? This was Pepper, for God's sakes. She was his assistant, his confidant, his…

None of those things left Tony with a good feeling, though. He felt dry, unsatisfied, and frustrated. He thought of Pepper, _his_ Pepper, and what they did from day to day…

Tony jumped up, running out of the garage and up the stairs. "MISS POTTS!" He shouted, running in.

Pepper jumped and might as well have come clean out of her skin. "Mr. Stark-? What's going-?"

"Let's go dancing."

Pepper blinked. She set her lap top aside, flexed her hands to get the blood flowing, then looked up at him. "I beg your pardon?"

Tony nodded eagerly. "Yes. I want to go dancing with you."

Pepper eyed him warily, a blush creeping into her cheeks. "I don't- I'm not understanding-"

Tony grinned, leaning his dirty hands onto the white couch (she'd need to remember to have it cleaned later) on either side of Pepper's legs, trapping her against the cushion, leaning down to whisper in her ear. Pepper's heart double timed when she smelled the scents of engine grease, metal, and Bvlgari cologne on his neck. Tony's goatee brushed against her velvety skin as he whispered in her ear, his voice rather low and irresistible to Pepper's ears, "I want to make you move because you're standing still…"

Pepper blushed at that, rooted to the spot. The desired effect brought out exactly what Tony was hoping for as he reached around and pulled out the few pins that had Pepper's hair done up and her red gold hair tumbled down in waves. Tony was met with a floral, oriental vanilla scent and chuckled when he felt her shiver. Yes, he wanted to dance…

"I hope you can dance in four inch stilettos, Miss Potts," Tony laughed, his smile wolfish and raking over her. "As for the dress, we'll have to find you something else. That is far _too _acceptable."

Pepper's mouth was open in shock. She had no come back prepared for something like that, but Tony wasn't looking for one. This wasn't a banter or a playful game. He was serious!

"Oh, and I am going to hear you sing tonight," Tony said, walking over to the stairs, intent on going to take a shower. He refused to smell like a refried egg if he was going to put his best moves on the dance floor. "That is a _guarantee_, Miss Potts."

Pepper watched him go, before letting out a puff of air as an excuse for a sigh. It was the first breath she had taken since he'd given her that patent sultry stare. He knew just how to unwind her, and Pepper sometimes resented him for that. Though, no matter how much she told herself she shouldn't, she couldn't help but shiver and feel her heart go into overdrive. Dancing? Singing? All brought on by that song, she thought dryly. What was worse, she'd been the one to give him the song. Pepper looked down at her hands, and smiled as she thought, _maybe I can give him a taste of his own medicine…_

"…so _this _is how I'm going to get that raise."

**AN: **Review please!


	7. AIM For the Heart

**AN: **_Wow. Seriously. The reviews I got for the last chapter were purely astounding, and I never felt so accomplished when writing! You lovelies are simply wonderful! For all of your generous reviews, I've decided to gift wrap a tiny little present while I plan the part II of the dancing trip, just because people wanted to see it. I've decided to add onto chapter six! But first, this idea came, mainly inspired by a random set of fortunate events. I hope you like it ;D_

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Just the SN ideas. I do take ownership over those. That's all.

* * *

**AIM For the Heart**

Pepper sat on the white couch of the Stark mansion, staring at her lap top computer screen with incredulity smeared on her pretty face. Sure, her boss was unpredictable. Yes, he could be annoying on some of his bad days. Of course sometimes he would bug her when he was bored. But this? This was just… too far. Even by his standards.

A window to her instant messenger had popped up, received from IronDevil101.

Pepper could not believe this. He was interrupting her work to instant message- and he was only twenty steps down stairs in his work shop.

**IronDevil101: **I know you're there, Miss Potts. I can SENSE it. That and I have cameras.

Pepper frowned, sighing exasperatedly as she replied…

**PiedPepper77:** You do realize I still have at least 200 emails to go through in your inbox before I leave today. Rhodey also wants to talk to you later tonight.

**IronDevil101:** I'm telling you all the time how much more convenient it would be for you to just move in. You'd never be late to work, and you wouldn't waste gas getting here. Time efficient _and_ eco-friendly!

**PiedPepper77: **We've been over this, Mr. Stark. I like my apartment. And that's not even the real reason. I would be crossing the employer-employee relationship.

**IronDevil101: **You're too self-righteous. One day I'm going to take you around to bar hop and get you so smashed you'll jump up on the coffee table and start one of those raunchy dances.

**PiedPepper77: **That is disgusting.

**IronDevil101: **The fact you considered it is what gives me hope, Miss Potts.

**PiedPepper77: **That's why you have your own pole for your flight attendants on your plane.

**IronDevil101:** So if I put one up in the living room…?

**PiedPepper77: **Keep talking and you'll find that pole going up your ass.

**IronDevil101: **Ooo, Pepper, I've got to say that when you curse, it's a massive turn on.

**PiedPepper77:** I apologize, that was rude of me.

**IronDevil101: **That's right, Potts, ruin my fun. And if it's any consolation, I'd throw all the flight attendants out just to see you work the pole.

**PiedPepper77: **Has all chances of professionalism left you, or are you trying to get me angry on purpose?

**IronDevil101: **While there's nothing I'd rather enjoy doing more than to ruffle your feathers, I have an actual request of you, as a personal assistant.

**PiedPepper77: **Thrill me.

**IronDevil101: **I shoot to thrill and play to kill.

**PiedPepper77: **While your love of ACDC lyrics may come in handy in every day conversation, Mr. Stark, we need to move this along so that I can actually do my job.

**IronDevil101: **One of these days I'll get you to feel as carefree and weightless as I do when it comes to work. That would take a hell lot of alcohol, probably more than I'd ever consume in one lifetime, but this is all not the point. I need you to pick up some of that oil. Not the chic crap, but that really spicy smelling massage stuff.

**PiedPepper77: **For what, dare I ask?

**IronDevil101:** I need a massage. And you're going to give it to me. I stayed up too late hunched over the left boot on the suit and now I have the worst kink in my neck imaginable. Seriously, I'm in pain.

**PiedPepper77: **Only if you mean it.

**IronDevil101: **I'm not one to joke about pain, Miss Potts.

**PiedPepper77: **I should only be about an hour, then.

**IronDevil101: **Oh that won't do. You'll have to hurry, I'm already stripped. Chop, chop!

**IronDevil101 has signed off.**

Pepper stared at her screen for a moment, then groaned, sinking her head into her hand. Somehow she knew this would be unsafe and dangerous… and her hands were shaking in anticipation as she grabbed her car keys to go and pick up the massage oil that would end up all over her hands, and… possibly… if her boss was in the defiantly playful mood… all over in general.

**AN: **I don't know about you all, but I'd pay to give Tony Stark a massage... hehe. Dancing is coming up! Review please, or I'll with hold it.


	8. For Once In His Life II

**AN: **_Hello all! Thank you SO much for your reviews! I almost have 100! I'm so excited I could inflate and fly away... but if I did I'd look like one of those unattractive blowfish...bleh. Anyway, I'm sorry I've been slacking on the review replies. I'll pick those up again, I promise! My computer just got slightly fixed, but even now I'm still limited, so bear with me. __On to the first order of business, this is the second part of the dancing. I have decided to make it a trilogy of sorts (hehe) and the massage will also have a sequel as well, since people liked that so much too. Which, was REALLY surprising, because I was sure chapter 6 was going to be horrible and I only threw chapter 7 in there as a filler. So I was SURPRISED, as you can imagine. I have a lot of ideas for one shots, trust me, there is so much more to come. I've found out that this is going to melt into a trilogy, so there is one more installment after this chapter for the dancing. The massage chapter should be up soon, too._

_On to the second order of business, the plot line is beginning to form for the real deal. I went to see the movie again last night (think giddy elementary girl at her favorite boy band concert- I think I was more giggly that time than the first two times), and it helped a LOT. I'm still juggling characters around, so keep those encouraging reviews coming! _

_As one last little note, if any of you will research the song in this chapter, it is a CLASSIC! I recommend it! _

_Warning: major fluff ahead. Thank you and happy reading._

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Characters by Stan Lee ...ugh.

* * *

**For Once In His Life**

Pepper was at a loss, a complete and utter loss that had her past frustration and sinking into desperation as she stared at her modest, uniform closet. Browns to one side, blacks to the other, and the last section, shoved to the back, were the dresses that were any other color. Mainly, they were all evening gowns. The one closest to the door was the backless blue number that she'd bought via Tony Stark's credit card for her birthday. Pepper took a deep breath, shoving back the pencil skirts and pantsuits, and started filing through the colorful part of her closet that was usually a pariah in every day wardrobe. The first was the blue one, which was an obvious no. The second was a beautiful canary silk cocktail dress. She paused here, but then shook her head. It was way too formal, and too... bright. The second was an emerald green satin dress that hugged a woman's curves, with a low back, but Pepper sighed. You can dance in something as tight as that... or at least, Pepper couldn't. Then there was a few black gowns, but there was a running theme in this part of Pepper's closet- they were all evening gowns!

...and then she found_ it_.

The little (very) black (and shiny) dress that Pepper had worn back in college. This was a special dress. It was absolutely Pepper's favorite, and she would never have considered it for tonight only because with the phrase "little black dress" this dress was extremely little. It had been a gift from her sister. Pepper had needed help dressing up for an important date, and her sister had sent this to her.

"Don't pay me back, Pepper, the only thing I ask is that you send me pictures!" her sister had said.

Pepper had sent her money for it anyway. It was indeed a beautiful little number... it was just so short! Pepper wasn't ashamed of her legs- in fact, she considered them her best feature. She had long, slender legs, very strong from early morning jogs, shapely and... and something she couldn't be flashing around her boss, that was for certain. The dress was ebony, beaded and with any little twirl or turn, shimmered in dim lighting. The hem was alluring, a lacy pattern that hit above the middle of Pepper's thighs and she was sure that one wrong step and it would be a massacre... but really, she had no other choice. At all, literally, no other choice. It was either a pencil skirt or an evening gown.

With a humph and a sigh, Pepper took the hanger out of her closet and laid it across her bed. Pepper padded into her bathroom and ran the shower, muttering quiet prayers under her breath that, if something embarrassing did happen, and she was sure it would, that it would not hinder her life's progression... too much.

* * *

While Pepper had her own wardrobe problem, Tony was battling thoughts. He had a plan tonight, one that he was sure would be good for both him and his assistant. Tony reflected on the fact that he had never- never once had put this much thought into what a woman might want to do with a night on the town. Normally, whatever woman he was with was willing enough to let him drag them to Hell and back if he fancied it, but this was Pepper. Pepper wasn't just "whatever woman." Virginia Potts was indeed a rare and blessing of a woman, and Tony bit his cheek with the thought that the world would be a shade dimmer without her pretty little smile to greet him in the morning.

Tony grabbed his jacket, shrugging it on, and ran a hand through his hair as it decided to do what it always did, which was flip around wildly until it settled in an unsettled, yet attractive unruly state. Tony grabbed his phone and wallet, shoving them into his pockets as he walked down stairs, grinning the whole way. He hadn't been this excited to go out with a woman, either. He was literally giddy, for God's sake.

Tony walked out to his car, sliding in smoothly. The Audi's engine revved beneath Tony's hands and he got goose bumps, a daring smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. The Audi peeled out of the driveway, and Tony flew down the streets of Malibu. Tony realized that he had never been to Pepper's apartment, so he had to have Jarvis direct him.

"Three lights and then one left turn, sir," said Jarvis.

Tony followed the directions, and pulled up on a quiet street of apartment complexes. Tony felt his back straighten and he swallowed. "Which one is it?" Tony muttered.

They were all different shades, but basically the same stately, elegant architecture. Cropped flowers bloomed in window boxes, tall trees blowing in the breeze, all framed in iron gates. Tony saw an elderly couple walking down the street away from him, walking their little shih zu.

"I believe it is the white building to your direct right, sir," came Jarvis' pleasant voice.

Tony pulled up smoothly in a parallel park, and shut the car off. Tony took a deep breath, and flexed his hands on the wheel. His mouth was suddenly dry and his heart felt like it had dropped through the floor. Or maybe that was his stomach.

"Is everything to your satisfaction, sir, because you seem to be experiencing an accelerated pulse rate," Jarvis observed.

Tony ran a hand through his hair and nodded to himself. "Yeah, Jarvis... I'm fine," he said, getting out of the car, looking up at Pepper's home. It was... beautiful. It was just what he imagined where Pepper might live. Nice, quiet, lovely- that was the word to use. _Lovely_... Tony felt almost guilty for disrupting the scene... almost.

Tony walked around the Audi, taking the stairs two at a time. He could see behind thin drapes that the lights were on. That only served to make him even more nervous. NO- he wasn't nervous. For God's sake, he was Tony Stark. He didn't get nervous over women. He wasn't some middle school boy on his first date with his crush.

No. He was taking Pepper out to dance... possibly for a drink...

"Oh God," he groaned under his breath, realizing that this was what people felt when they said they had _butterflies_.

--

Pepper heard her doorbell ring and her heart skipped a beat. "Shit," she whispered softly. She was almost ready except for the fact her earring had rolled under the dresser in the hallway. "Just a second!" she called, dropping down and looking under the furniture to see her earring glittering at her from the hardwood floor. Pepper reached back, frowning when she had to really strain to get it. She pulled it up and put it on as she got up, scuttling on her heels (only three inches, to be safe, of course) to the door. She felt her stomach flip the moment her hand twisted the door handle. She couldn't turn back now- she was in the middle of opening the door. It made Pepper feel that dark, sickening turn in her stomach, knowing that she had to press forward. Past the point of no return- or some silly metaphor like that, which was ridiculous to be thinking of at the moment. However, when Pepper opened the door, there was no problem with forgetting her rambling thoughts when she was met with the extremely handsome vision of her boss on her quirky little door step, surrounded by potted lilies and tulips.

Pepper saw Tony's eyes widen for a minute second before his face was suddenly washed with genuine surprise... pleasant surprise, she noted, as he smiled. It wasn't that cocky, dashing smile. It was the smile he only ever used for Pepper, the smile that curved his lips just so when his dark eyes twinkled just like they were doing now that told Pepper he was happy, amused, and carefree, if only for a moment.

"Hey," he said after at least ten seconds of stunned silence from both parties.

Pepper smiled, biting the corner of her bottom lip. "Hi," she said, back tracking a few steps to grab her purse off the hallway table.

Tony shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking on his heels. It was a nervous habit he had, and he knew Pepper knew that. Pepper caught him stopping himself, but it was too late- she'd seen it and now she knew he was nervous. It was... endearing.

Being genuine is what Pepper loved best about Tony, when he was just himself. He was quirky, funny, and not as suave as he always seemed to be, and Pepper loved this side the most. This wasn't Mr. Stark, who she worked for.

It was just Tony.

Tony wanted to tell her she looked incredible, wanted to say something that would make her glow with happiness, but the words stuck in his mouth like he'd shoved too much gum in his mouth and now had a wad stuck in his cheeks. He thought fleetingly of what Pepper might wear, but it had not been something he dwelled on. He was more concerned with how he would act when he saw her... and how she looked had never been put into the equation, which was stupid, because now it changed everything.

How the hell was he supposed to not stop and stare at her when she looked like that? Tony had to wonder if she did this on purpose. It was so... accentuating, that little thing she wore. Tony finally swallowed and nearly choked on his words as he said, "Well, well, the famous Miss Potts actually does have some legs," he chuckled. Which was true. No one would guess Pepper was hiding those pins under her knee length pencil skirts.

A very pretty blush bloomed in Pepper's cheeks and she said, "Mr. Stark, you clean up very nicely, too," she said as reconciliation, before closing the door with a snap behind her, smirking. "But you know that."

"That I do," Tony grinned, walking down the steps with her back to his car. As Pepper reached for the door, Tony decided he wanted to experiment with something, and reached out and opened the door for her. Pepper stopped, blinking, her eyes widening for half a second, before she grinned in disbelief, sliding in.

"Thank you," she said, amused and bewildered at the same time.

"You're welcome," Tony said, shutting her door gently behind her, walking around the back of the car, shaking his head. Wow, being gentleman actually did pay off.

He'd try it again later.

Tony slipped into the driver's seat, buckled up and pulled out just as smooth as he'd pulled in, and took off down the street. Pepper brushed her hair out of her face with a pale, slender hand as she looked out the window. "Where are we going exactly? You never told me to make any sort of reservations or call ahead-"

"That's because I don't want anyone knowing we're coming," Tony said with a smile. "We're going to two different places."

Pepper looked at him now. "Why?" she asked, confusion in her voice.

"Because there are two places I want to take you, and two places I think you might enjoy. Thankfully, they are in fact the same two places," Tony grinned at her. "The second place is more of a club with louder music and more dancing."

"And the first place?" asked an intrigued Pepper.

Tony smiled. "I've never taken a girl to the first place," he said with a grin. "It's a little classy joint that I know you'll like, Potts. It's your cup of tea. The first place will get you more confident to dance, since you and I both know you have a little problem with dancing, or dancing while I'm around, or dancing with me in general," He threw her an amused grin, and Pepper swatted him. "And hopefully by the time we leave you'll actually want to dance."

Pepper grinned, looking down at her hands. "You put a lot of thought into this didn't you?"

Tony sighed, rolling his eyes. "As much as I had to," he said as if it had been a chore, even though both he and Pepper knew he was just as excited as she was.

* * *

Pepper watched as the city's lights sparkled all around her, and Tony pulled up outside of a very lively part of the city. Tony pulled up to the door, and got out. Pepper jumped, getting out to follow along with him. She grabbed her purse, a little black clutch, and shut the door behind her just as Tony tossed the keys to the valet. Pepper smiled at him as she walked up, but Tony, in a very commanding stride, took Pepper's hand and led her inside. Pepper kept up, feeling a rather possessive grip in Tony's hand. Pepper smiled a little wider.

The glass doors were opened for them, and Tony pulled Pepper's arm through his so they were side by side, and he leaned down, whispering in her ear, "Do you want a drink first this time, or dance?" Pepper could feel his smile against her ear, and his goatee tickled against her soft skin.

"A drink," she decided. "I'll end up wanting one anyway, right?"

Tony chuckled as he pulled her gently over to the bar. Pepper finally got her look around the place. She felt her lips part and her mouth drop a little. It was amazing, in Pepper's eyes. The whole atmosphere was drenched in deep, passionate red from the furniture to the paint on the walls, everything was a seductive ruby red hue. Black and white photos hung on the wall of women, many of them from the early 1900's, Pepper guessed. The bar was glass, and softly lit up with lights. On one side that overlooked the ocean, the wall seemed to be nothing but glass, and tables of deep mahogany wood lit with candles stood quietly, where couples were dinning. Then, toward the far side of the room, a shiny hardwood floor glittered under dim lights, and a live jazz band was playing soft music. People were swaying gently back and forth.

Pepper took a deep breath and sighed as she sat down on one of the bar stools. It took Pepper two minutes before she realized Tony was watching her. She straightened her shoulders and back when she caught herself under his scrutiny.

"No," he said with a grin as he ordered them two martinis (his dirty, of course). "Relax, you looked comfortable."

Pepper smiled, biting her lip again, before turning to him finally. "This is... very nice, Mr. Stark," she smiled a little wider as her eyes found his. "You really do have good taste."

"I know I do, look who I brought with me here tonight," he said with a handsome grin. Pepper felt her stomach flip again, and took the martini when the bartender slid it to her. Tony sighed, and they both seemed to relax as they listened to the music in silence. Finally, Tony looked at her. "Thank you... for agreeing."

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "I'll admit, it's a bit... strange.. it almost feels like a date," she laughed, and then blushed. Tony's eyebrows raised at that too. Was that what it was? "But I'm glad I did, too," she said. Tony slid into a charming grin, and his eyes flickered to the band. Pepper's eyes followed his, and then- Tony did it. He knew she'd turn and he planned it precisely as his hand slid innocently across her leg and his fingers entwined with hers.

Pepper's hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and she bit her bottom lip again. It felt like her heart would burst out of her chest as she squeezed his fingers back. They sat, listening to the music and taking a drink every now and then, until the song ended, and the next song began. The jazzy moan of the trumpets and the tickling of the ivories blended into a song. Tony recognized it instantly and he slid off the bar stool. "Dance with me," he whispered in Pepper's hair that smelled so good and felt so soft.

Pepper automatically stood, following him onto the smooth hardwood floor as Tony took her in his arms to the swaying, seductive song. Tony led the dance perfectly, nothing outlandish or impressive. It was perfect, just the right amount of sway in their hips, a turn every now and then, rocking back and forth, his cheek pressed against her temple as Pepper caught the scent of his cologne as she listened to the song, and found herself grinning.

_"For once in my life, I've got someone who needs me, someone I've needed so long..."_

Pepper's heart was pounding softly like a stone skipping over water. She opened her mouth to say something, but Tony beat her to it. "My parents used to dance to this song," he said quietly and Pepper felt the intimacy in the moment. She closed her eyes, her hand sliding up his bicep.

"It's a nice song," Pepper said with a dreamy smile. Pepper listened to the words and they struck her heart strings in a tingly way that left her with a glowing smile.

_"...for once, unafraid, I can go life leads me and somehow I'll know I'll be strong..."_

Silence enveloped both of them, and Pepper's eyes fluttered under this spell, this lovely, lovely bewitchment that Tony had taken her to. Her hand was warm in his as they danced, moving together in grace, in soft, dim lights and the sparkle of wine glasses.

"Tony..." Pepper whispered his name, and it felt tingly on her lips. Pepper wanted desperately to say something, but she didn't know what to say. This felt so good, being there with him, dancing like that. She couldn't find words to finish her sentence, and she sighed comfortably.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" he asked with a grin, looking down at her. His dark eyes trapping hers, locking on hers and unwilling to look anywhere else.

Pepper shook her head. "No, in fact I'm very comfortable," she said with a grin in return. Tony laughed at that and on one whiney blast of the trumpets he twirled her and brought her back again just as close as before. "I like this," she found herself saying. There was no where near enough alcohol in her to be making stupid decisions, and she didn't believe that saying these things were stupid. "You... you're..." Pepper trailed off when she found his stare boring into her, and she realized he was hanging onto her every word. She chose them carefully. She squeezed his hand and danced closer, her lips inches from his chin, and she whispered, "Tony, this means so much... that you asked and..."

Tony suddenly twirled her again and brought her closer, spinning her about. Pepper blinked when she felt his lips move at her ear, and realized Tony was singing along. He had a very nice, deep baritone voice that gave her shivers and laughed when he hummed the words against her ear.

_"For once I can say, this is mine, you can't take it..."_ Pepper felt Tony's arms tighten around her and she felt her heart burst in her chest and she squeezed his hand. _"__As long as I know I've got love I can make it.._." As the last few chords blew out from the trumpets, and as the piano tinkered softly, carrying away with the last few lyrics. Tony slowly brought Pepper against his body, and then dipped her back slowly, singing so only she could ear,_ "For once in my life I've got someone who needs me..."_

Pepper was staring at Tony, and Tony was staring at Pepper, both locked eyes and holding their breath as the song drew to a soft end. Just as slowly then, it wasn't Pepper who took the initiative to move, but Tony, and he leaned down...

So, so softly, so lovely, with that charming grin on his lips, Tony Stark gave Pepper Potts the kiss of her lifetime.

* * *

**AN: **(sigh) ...I don't think I need to add anything. Please review.


	9. Hard and Soft II

**AN:** _Wow, guys, I'm sorry for the delay. Things have been really hectic around here lately. Saturday my dog went missing during a huge thunderstorm while I was at my ballroom class. Not only is she tiny, but she's frightened of storms, to boot. What made it even worse is she can't see very well, especially in the dark, so I was freaking out. What's really neat is, the next morning my mom and I made signs and took them to the Office Max to laminate them (in case it rained again) behind our neighborhood, and it turns out my dog had wandered into their store! The manager's wife works at Petsmart so he took my dog home with him and kept her safe! How awesome is that? We would have never found her if we hadn't gone to the office supply store, ha, ha! My parents decided she went out for liquid white out for the life story she's been writing… I wouldn't put it past her._

_Anyway, plot line is driving me INSANE. There are so many concepts and so many aspects that I could write about that it's overwhelming. I'm trying to get everything straight, so bear with me! The first two chapters have been written though, and are in revision right now!_

_This is the second installment of the massage one-shot. Hehe, and thank you to all the feedback and reviews! I love you all SO much. I wouldn't have gotten this far without your amazing encouragement._

_Last- I promise- I saw The Incredible Hulk last night… the end made the whole movie for me. I told my mother that RDJ was my favorite character, and she told me, "He has nothing to do with the story whatsoever." I don't care. I was jittery and giggly and a completely grinning fool by the time I was in the car… God, I've got too much time on my hands…_

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing… which is ridiculous… I'm only TRYING to help.

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**Hard and Soft**

Pepper Potts heaved a sigh as she walked into the Stark Mansion, a little flustered and distressed. She wasn't looking forward to the task that was laid before her. Pepper prided herself in being professional, calculated, precise, and as close to perfect as one could get without actually being accused of such a monstrosity. Now, Tony "Iron Man" Stark wanted her to give him a massage. She wasn't some sort of maid, and she wished she could remind him of that sometimes. Times like now.

"Welcome back, Miss Potts," Jarvis welcomed her as always.

"Thank you, Jarvis. Is Mr. Stark in his workshop?" asked Pepper.

"He is indeed, Miss Potts."

"Thank you," Pepper said with a grin.

"You are most welcome," came the polite reply.

Pepper placed her keys and purse down on the sofa and started riffling through the shopping bag she had, pulling out a clear, medium sized bottle of coconut massage oil. Pepper sighed, slipping her jacket off and grabbed a hand towel from the kitchen and walked down stairs with a huff. She was getting more and more irritated with the idea of this chore. She tapped in her code on the security pad and opened the door, looking up to find Tony laying on his stomach. He had fixed the operating chair in his garage so it was flat so he could lay straight. Pepper would have rolled her eyes but the look on her boss's face made her stop.

Tony's brow was tightly drawn, his eyes squinted shut and his mouth was in a hard line. Pepper could also tell his teeth were clenched. She wasn't sure if he had heard her come in or not. Pepper swallowed, and found herself whispering timidly and uncertainly, "Tony?"

Tony's eyes flashed open, landing on her immediately, and his face relaxed only in the slightest. "There you are," he said gruffly. He didn't sound mad or upset, just extremely worn. It worried her.

Pepper came forward, kneeling so her face was level with his. "What's wrong? Are you in that much pain?" she murmured. When Tony nodded gently she swallowed. "Oh… oh, Tony, you should see a doctor-"

"I'm not going to the doctor," he replied automatically in a deadpan.

Pepper frowned. "This isn't any ordinary kink in the neck."

"Well, I'm a little sore for other reasons," Tony said miserably, as if confessing a dark secret like a five year old telling his mother he stole a cookie before dinner. "Jarvis alerted me last night there had been an explosion in Gulmera…"

"Oh, Tony!" Pepper pouted, distressed. She didn't like it when he went on those missions without letting anyone know, especially her. If he were to get caught or was in trouble and needed help, if something happened to Jarvis, too, there would be no one to try to alert. "You know I hate it when you don't tell me. Why didn't you call me?"

"I was in a hurry, I wasn't thinking about dropping you a call about going to blow some explosives up at four in the morning," Tony complained, grunting when he shifted his arm.

Pepper sighed, before kneeling up, looking at his back… she bit her lip. Tony Stark had a nice body. That was a definite fact that might as well be put in science books. His back was no exception. He was a very powerfully built man with very nice worked muscles, and she could tell… she could _really_ tell. It was pleasing to the eye, and Pepper blushed. Except she didn't like the bruises and lacerations on his skin from the suit. No, she didn't like that at all… With one slender finger, Pepper traced a bruise across Tony's right shoulder blade. He jerked at first, and Pepper pulled back. "I'm sorry-"

"It's okay," he said with a sigh, his voice softer. "…don't stop. It felt good."

Pepper blushed and nodded, biting her lip as she traced the bruise again, this time with two fingers. The oil she bought was forgotten as she softly dragged all five of her right fingertips down the right side of Tony's back. It was more in wonder and awe than anything. His skin, though it was bruised and occasionally she found his hands rougher than sandpaper, the skin on his back was so soft. She had to wonder if this was the same for his chest, and she blushed deeper.

"Okay…" Pepper took a deep breath. "Ready?"

Tony snorted. "Pepper, this isn't an SAT. Just go for it and I'll- ahh…oohh…" Tony's head fell forward and Pepper grinned in satisfaction as her hands, being careful of a bruise or cut, slowly worked into Tony's hard shoulders. God, he had muscles like rocks. Pepper's petite hands were working wonders and she was proud that she could get the great and mighty Tony Stark to shut up with her little digits.

Tony, on the other hand, was in Heaven under the circumstances. Pepper's hands might have been small enough to fit through the hole in his chest, but she was doing a damn fine job. When Tony spoke, his words came out in an unintentional groan. "Have you… done this before…?"

Pepper smiled and nodded. "Yeah, a few times. My aunt is a masseuse and she taught me a few things." Pepper was extremely careful. She knew the basics, that was for sure. Alternating between hard and soft pressure, she worked his muscles loose, the knots that she found she was tenderly kneading them with the but of her palms. Tony groaned in approval, and Pepper smiled, her voice a murmur when she spoke again. "Tell me if it ever hurts."

"Fat chance," Tony said gruffly, his eyes closed. "Like I'd try to stop you from putting your hands on me."

Pepper blushed and Tony felt her slight hesitation and he chuckled. "Nervous, Miss Potts?"

"I wasn't," Pepper retorted flatly, but didn't think until the words were already out of her mouth.

Tony rolled over onto his side, facing her, sitting up on his elbow, lounging easily. His dark eyes glittered and a smirk was curved on his lips, that charming, knowing smirk he used on plenty of people. Pepper swallowed, her hands still in the air. She went to take a step back, but Tony softly grabbed her wrist, encircling it with his hand, and Pepper sucked in a breath when he drew her closer. He studied her finger tips with interest, something working in his dark eyes. "And what about now?" he asked, before looking back up at his assistant.

Pepper's eyes fluttered, her blue eyes locked on his and her lips parted in desperation and God help her excitement. She could hear the alarms in the far back corner of her mind, but with each passing moment, her heart beating faster was drowning those warning bells out.

"No," she answered quietly.

Immediately, Tony pulled Pepper forward. Pepper gasped, losing her footing and she toppled forward. Tony had to suppress a grin. He wanted to know how far he could push Pepper before she would slap him or yell at him. He'd wanted this for a while now, wanting to figure out what exactly Pepper wanted as far as their relationship went. It was more than CEO and personal assistant, and they weren't just friends anymore. He had put out what he wanted, he'd told her the morning after they had stopped Stane.

_"...there'd be this girlfriend waiting for me, worried sick..." _

Pepper was practically straddling Tony, and her face could not possibly turn any more red, and she didn't trust herself to speak, because if she did, she'd probably end up squeaking like one of those damn mice from Cinderella. Pepper pulled back, or tried to, only to find Tony had both of her wrists in his hands now, and he was watching her intently, studying her. He was waiting for something, disapproval in her eyes, yelling perhaps, but Pepper's heart was hammering so fast and hard against her chest she was short of breath. "Tony..."

Tony brought her hands up, his dark eyes locked on her blue ones, gleaming with dangerous excitement that made Pepper hold her breath. He brought her open palm to his lips, his goatee scraping her skin as he pressed a seductive kiss in the middle of her palm, then the other, his eyes never straying from hers. Pepper swallowed, breathing so hard her chest hurt. Tony took her hands behind his neck then, and leaned up, brushing his lips along the base of her neck where her collarbones met. Pepper's eyes fluttered, threatening to close as she felt Tony's goatee and lips start a slow climb up her soft neck, his hands suddenly (surprisingly, she hadn't noticed it at first) appearing to be on her waist.

Tony's lips trailed up Pepper's soft skin to her ear and he felt her shiver and sigh, which pleased him. He slid his hands behind to her lower back, moving his lips across her jaw, just barely brushing the corner of her mouth, when suddenly- they were interrupted.

"I do apologize for the inconvenience, sir, but Colonel Rhodes is at the front door," Jarvis's voice said, filling the garage.

Pepper and Tony both froze, before Pepper pushed away quickly, slipping off the damn chair and Tony altogether, her face completely flushed. Tony sat up, grinning like the devil himself, before sliding off the chair and sliding his arms around Pepper from behind, whispering in her ear. "Thanks for the massage," he whispered huskily, kissing her cheek, before pulling away and disappearing up the stairs, leaving Pepper breathless. She leaned against the chair, her hand on the leather cushion before pulling back as if she'd been burned.

Pepper noticed the massage oil was still sitting on the table where she had left it. Eighty bucks and they didn't even use it. Pepper grinned then, crossing the room and swiping it up, biting her lip as she decided...

She'd finish the massage later. And she planned on giving Mr. Tony Stark a taste of his own medicine. Revenge would be sweet.

And scented in coconut.

* * *

**AN: **Bwuaha. Review, please?


	10. I Heard the Rain

**AN: **Thank you to all my reviewers. I know this is short, but it's just a little one shot I posted in the Pepperony100 lj community. Thought I'd share it with you while composing the final installment of the dancing one shot.

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Tony Stark nor Pepper Potts.

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**I Heard the Rain**

It was like a nightmare, really. She had watched it from the beginning, when the sea had began it's slow, relentless ramming against the rocks. The wind was rough against the waves, sending the sea back again that seemed to shake her to the core. She felt it in her chest as if one could feel the unpleasant vibrations from a speaker at a rock concert. She kept no lights on when she watched storms. The dark encompassed everything, even outside, but it was not pitch black. In fact, the sky continued to light up every few moments with lightning that gave her a great panorama of the ocean view spreading out to sea, the waves roaring like unsettled souls. Storms had always scared Pepper. It was a force, an unrestrained power that you had no defense against. Shelter could be a solution, but only until that force ripped it away, and you were left standing on the brink with the wind in your hair and the sea spray on your face, and it could swallow you whole. When the storms happened at night, the sea was black and it made Pepper shudder at the thought of being lost at sea. With no protection, nothing to hold onto, there was no chance of survival. Wave after wave fell on you like a wall of iron, and it gave no mercy to those who could not rise above the swell. Whether above the surface or not, any gasp of air you tried to catch and hold onto was useless, so filled with salt and brine and water. It filled your lungs until they burst inside your chest and filled you to your finger tips.

Pepper self consciously took a gasp of air and her whole body shuddered. She crossed her arms over her chest, closing her lofty blue eyes as another strike of lightning tore across the sky and thunder cracked like an unforgiving whip of an Egyptian slave master. Pepper was sure someone could be out there in those treacherous waves, somewhere lost in the folds of black and brine that was screaming with water filled lungs for help. Pepper was not scared. She could face a storm, she could confront the sea when it roared in her face. She could find the courage to throw her arms at the furious steel sky that heated the ocean with electricity and howling.

Pepper was haunted. She could still feel the water rising in her lungs and still see the ocean's surface so many miles above her. It had been like the beginning of a symphony. There had been the introducing few bars of wind, then the music had swelled, the waves crashing like symbols, the thunder beating like the drums. The rods of lightning reminded her of a conductor's wand. The climax was coming, it was nearing and the water was choking her, clogging her throat like two hands strangling her from around the neck, pulling her under the overwhelming abyss.

Then, she felt his arms. They circled around her from behind. He was still warm from the messy sheets and the duvet on the bed. She felt his dark goatee and his lips nuzzle the soft skin of her neck, his breath warm. Her pale fingers reached up and cupped the side of his head, her fingertips curling dark locks of his hair around her fingers. He had never been so quiet as to sneak up on her and catch her completely off guard. How had he managed it? Normally, she was the one to accomplish silent steps, but it seemed he had honed on the skill himself, probably something from being around her for so long.

"Why are you awake?" his voice was a whisper, his lips at her ear now, making her shiver in remembrance of where those lips had been just hours before.

"I heard the rain," she said, turning her eyes to him that lit up like drops of light every time a flash illuminated the dark clouds outside.

"Your bedroom is not exactly quiet during thunderstorms."

"It isn't exactly quiet otherwise, either. As I recall there was no thunderstorm at the beginning of the evening," his smile was playful, but tired. She could tell how tired he was just from the way he smiled, how it wasn't completely reaching his eyes, though his dark gaze was twinkling at her. She felt his arms, steely around her waist. They wouldn't let her go if she tried to get away... relentless. A force to be reckoned with, like the water outside, except he could break through water. He could penetrate the waves.

As Tony drew her back to bed, pulling her backward across the silk sheets, she thought about the forces of Iron and Water. Water was more than a liquid. It was like shards of glass moving as one, sharp and biting. It separated and came back together, encircling you like thorns, cutting everywhere it could reach. Then there was the Iron. Iron was irrevocable, whole, and it was power. Iron was authority. You could not pass it without judgement, and it did not bend to your will. Water could bend easily, be broken easily.

Pepper laid in Tony's arms. She wanted iron.

**AN: **Review, please! I don't want to have to withold the dancing _and_ the massage...


	11. Pizza and a Movie

**AN: **_Hello, loves! I'm sorry, but I had to get this out of my system. This idea has been clogging up my writing flow, and seriously, it's getting annoying. Sometimes I have to just flush out the things that are blocking other things- like **dancing** and **massages** and **other stories**! So, please enjoy. This was posted to the pepperony100 challenge on 06/30/09._

_And as always, thank you to all of my reviewers!_

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, but if I did... _oh-la-la_...

* * *

**Pizza and a Movie**

Tony leaned back away from the workbench, admiring the finished product. He had been working on renovating the flight stabilizers for the past six hours, and now, in all their shiny, hot rod red, glamorous gold, titanium glory, they were finished, gleaming back at him like a flirty wink from a woman at the gambling table. Tony ran his hands through his hair, stretching backward on the chair and groaned as his stiff joints realigned. It felt good to actually move every now and then.

Tony glanced at his expensive watch, the gold twinkling in the light, the slender hands telling him it was nearing nine o'clock. It was earlier than he would have guessed. Heaving a sigh, Tony pushed himself backward in the rolling chair and grabbed the damn crutch the doctors had given him. He actually had two, but found it much more to his advantage when only using one. Yes, it was a hassle as far as losing his balance, running into things, and falling over when he never expected it, but he had formed a good system.

Tony hobbled up, his broken foot, having been crushed underneath a tank in his latest mission, swaying precariously behind him. He hopped toward the door of the garage, staring at the stairs with an inquisitive look. Here was where his system began.

Unceremoniously, Tony hurled his crutch up the stairs where it clattered loudly on the tile. A yelp of surprise followed suit, and Tony remembered Pepper was there. "Oops."

"Smashing job, sir."

"Zip it, you second hand Atari," Tony quipped, leaning against the wall as he hobbled up the stairs. At one point, Tony nearly fell forward, and swung his body so he would land on his rear. "Hm," he tilted his head, before pushing himself up, backwards, up the stairs. "AHA!" he shouted in triumph, finding this much easier (he had a lot of upper body strength). He fell onto his back once he reached the landing, taking a moment to congratulate himself, only to look up and find Pepper Potts standing over him, her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.

"Mr. Stark."

"Miss Potts," Tony grinned, tilting his head. "Your face is funny upside down."

"I find it less than humorous," Pepper began, kneeling down and helping Tony sit up before slinging one of his arms over her shoulders. "that the doctor, the _moron_ that you say he is, scheduled me to stay with you for the times when you would be incapable of performing a task."

"It's like he was reassuring you of your job duties," Tony said with a grin, standing up with her help. "I'd take offense if I were you."

"Obviously, they hadn't accounted for how… _determined _you are," she said with a huff, helping him over to the couch. He was plopped down with a thud. Pepper cleaned up the coffee table where there were a few coke cans, and she took them into the kitchen.

Tony noticed her appearance: slightly worn in jeans, an old college t-shirt, her hair in messy, wavy tresses and she was barefoot! Tony stroked his goatee as he watched her return.

Pepper raised an eyebrow, plopping down next to him. "What?" she asked.

"You look… comfortable."

"I'm relaxed, yes," Pepper said, smirking. "It's been known to happen."

"I wouldn't have believed it," Tony clarified with a light tone.

"I ordered pizza," she said, picking up the remote and settling back, grabbing the throw blanket and putting her feet up on the coffee table next to Tony's. She offered him some blanket, and he took it, still watching her with fascination. "Meat lovers. I hope that's okay, though I never would believe it if you ever turned down pizza."

"There's a first time for everything, Miss Potts. What are you watching?" he asked, noticing the screen's opening titles.

"A movie."

"Brilliant," he snorted.

"It's called _Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?_" Pepper informed him with a little smile, looking at him. "The infamous Bette Davis and the elegant Joan Crawford."

"Who?" Tony asked, his face scrunched up in confusion. "I've never heard of it."

"Of course you haven't, it's an old movie," she said with a grin. She knew that Tony's normal movie watching contained either lots of explosions, lots of blood, lots of screaming, or all three in one. "This is back when Hollywood wasn't overrated."

"Ah, well then I'm entitled to watch it, aren't I?" Tony remarked. "Start said film, Miss Potts."

"Of course, Mr. Stark." And the movie began. Except--there were a few things that Pepper Potts had forgotten when watching a movie with Tony Stark.

The first one was that Tony loved to commentary the whole movie, no matter what movie. It was interesting to Pepper, as well, to realize that he would do this unconsciously without even knowing it. There was a good and a bad to this habit. The bad was that it could get insanely annoying at times. The good was that, Tony made watching a movie, especially one Pepper had seen countless times before, all the more entertaining. Tony would laugh and gasp and even chew on his thumbnail when it got intense. Pepper found his energy rubbing off onto her and she found herself just as on edge when that wild look came into Jane's eyes.

"Oh, that's just _disgusting,_" Tony blanched. He turned his horrified expression to Pepper. "You wouldn't ever put a bird or a rat in _my _meals, would you?"

Pepper gave him a look before replying coolly. "Would you ever give me reason to?"

Tony opened his mouth, paused, then shut it promptly.

Pepper grinned.

The second thing that Pepper noticed (and she was positive this was a first) was that Tony was _close._ Of course they were watching a movie, but she couldn't help but feel the heat from his body so close to hers. The fact her thigh was less than an inch from his, her elbow was brushing his every time either one of them shifted, and the fact they were sharing a blanket (not one of her better ideas, Pepper had decided) made it even more pronounced.

Pepper focused her eyes on the movie, pushing out the other distractions, but all too soon, she felt Tony shift again, however he was shifting toward her. Suddenly, Pepper felt Tony's warm breath on her neck and he murmured, "Done watching me, Miss Potts?"

It took her a moment to gain her voice. "I'm watching the movie," she whispered. Why was she whispering?

"Mmm, no," Tony was nuzzling her neck, and Pepper had to bite her lip to keep herself quiet. "No, I don't think you are."

"You know, seduction works better when you do- do this in a romantic movie," Pepper commented, though she didn't know why. It sounded like she was encouraging him- was she? God, whatever that little thing was he was doing to her neck felt _so good_, though…

"I'll keep it in mind," Tony whispered, his lips moving to her ear. He owed it to the vision she made in jeans and messy hair and that knowing little smirk that had him slowly pushing her down onto the couch. Tony's eyes connected with hers and found blue. So much blue.

Tony leaned down, brushing his lips across Pepper's softly, before feeling her hands cup his face-

"Your pizza has arrive," Jarvis chimed in, as if gleeful that he could break yet another intense moment between the two.

Tony groaned and threw his head back against the back of the couch. Pepper rolled off the couch, standing and brushing her bangs out of her flushed face. "I'm just- I'm going-"

"I'm not going anywhere," Tony said, gesturing to his foot, bound in a cast, smiling in a quirky way.

Pepper nodded. "Right," she murmured, hurrying to the front door, biting her lip the whole way. Heat flooded her cheeks and she felt her heart flutter as she paid the young delivery boy, the heat of the pizza box reminding her of the warmth of the blanket and Tony's body on top of hers.

As she walked the pizza back into the living room, Pepper wondered what could've happened if she had put in _Casablanca,_ instead.

* * *

**AN: **Review, please!


	12. A Lovely Way To Burn III

_**AN**__: Wow. A lot of this was written at 5:56 a.m. Yeah, long night. I apologize for the delay, but I hope it is worth it. So- viola._

_To my wonderful reviewers- thank you._

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

* * *

**A Lovely Way To Burn**

Pepper stood in the ladies' bathroom, chewing on her lip as she stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror. She'd touched up her makeup, not that it needed it. She'd washed her hands, even though they were clean. She had gone to the bathroom, even though she hadn't had to. The truth was? She was stalling, and doing a horrible job at it.

That, and she was reliving that mind blowing kiss she had shared with her boss moments ago on the dance floor.

It hadn't been any normal kiss. It had been so_ charged_ and she thought that was a very appropriate word, considering she had often had day dreamt of what it might be like to kiss a man as handsome as Tony Stark. Of course she didn't have them _that _often (that's what she told herself), and she had never planned on finding out. What made Pepper consider the word charged was the fact that she knew, deep down, how badly she had wanted that and for how _long_ she had wanted it, and it seemed to shatter her earth, the world that she knew, and completely turn things in a different direction for her.

Unbeknownst to Pepper Potts, Tony was going through similar thoughts of his own.

He sat at the bar, grinning to himself as he thought of what had happened. He had planned a lot of things, many of which turned out great in the grand scheme of things, but he had never, not once had thought of kissing Pepper. He knew how uptight, how professional she was and how much that meant to her… but the moment had been so right, so perfect.

Besides, he thought wryly. I owed her a kiss anyway.

Pepper came out of the ladies' room, finding Tony at the bar. She had no plan of action, no words to dish out on him or any reprimands to slap him on the hand with. In fact, she was anxious to see how he would act as she slipped into the chair beside him. Wordlessly, Tony slid a martini her way and she noticed with a glimmer in her eye that there was not one, not two- not even three- but _four_ olives in her glass.

Pepper found herself smiling, giving him a sideways glance. "Thank you," she said with a little laugh.

Tony grinned, nodding. "I owed that to you, from what I remember," he said, turning to her now. His face was serious, his eyes dancing. Pepper watched him to see what he would say. She inwardly frowned at herself, feeling vulnerable… exposed, and most importantly hopeful. She had sworn to herself she would never put her feelings this deep into her job. _Too late for that_, she thought dryly. Here she was, out dancing at a quiet little jazz bar with Mr. Tony Stark, and she was hanging onto his every word.

"I also never told you how I had wanted to come back to the roof to you that night," he said, his eyes trained on her hand that rested on her leg innocently. "I haven't told you a lot of things I should have told you, said to you. There were even more things I should've done when I got back," his eyes flickered up to hers, locking on those beautiful blue eyes. "And I'm sick of thinking of all of the 'should haves' and the 'haven't's."

Pepper took a deep breath, smiling softly. "Tony, you're beating yourself up."

"Well it's about time someone did," he said with a crooked smile, before taking her hand that rested on her leg, pulling it up to his lips and kissing her knuckles. He leaned in and whispered into her ear. "I'm going to start saying things like how much I appreciate what you do for me, how much I need you, want you, care for you. I still can't wrap my mind around how lucky I really am," he grinned and Pepper had to bite her lip, feeling his warm breath against her neck. "But I hope you'll give me the time to."

Pepper felt him pull back, and it was just enough so they could see each other. She opened her mouth, her voice shaky. "Tony… I'm-"

"Mr. Stark?"

They both turned to see a young man dressed in a pressed suit, smiling. He was young, Pepper guessed no more than twenty one, and impeccably cute.

"Ah, yes," Tony swung his chair around, smiling rather deviously now.

"We're ready," the young man said, his eyes flickering to Pepper.

Pepper's eye brows raised coolly at Tony, her tone suspicious as she asked, "Ready for what?"

"You," he said simply, standing up and pulling Pepper up with him.

Pepper's eyes widened. "WHAT!"

Tony laughed, grinning. "Mark, this is Miss Potts. Please, be gentle with her, she's very breakable at times like this."

Pepper stared at Tony in horror. "What am I about to _do?_" she asked in terror.

"Sing," Tony said simply, sitting back down at the bar and bringing his scotch (he had traded) to his lips with a smirk of victory. "I told you that I would hear you, Miss Potts."

Pepper had the sudden urge to take that glass and show him exactly what he could do with it, but Mark had taken her elbow gently and was now leading her across the room. It wasn't as if she could cause a scene. Besides, such a wonderful restaurant that Tony had managed to _not _be thrown out of yet was a feet even for him, and Pepper liked this place. As Mark lead her over to the stage, he was grinning.

"Mr. Stark said you would react this way. He likes to spring things on you?" Mark asked, guessing.

Pepper nodded dryly. "Quite."

"Do you know what you might want to sing?" Mark asked. "We have a list, if you would like to look."

Pepper nodded, thinking this was the best answer, and followed Mark over to the table behind the stage near the corner. He pulled out a sleek black binder, and Pepper flipped it open. All of these songs were the old songs, such as Frank Sinatra, Queen, Paul Anka, and even The Temptations. Pepper smiled at all of these songs, feeling a tingling sensation in her chest as her eyes spotted one she knew very well. Her mother had used to sing this song quite a bit, and Pepper glanced up at Mark. He had been looking over her shoulder and he broke out into a smile. "The band loves that song, but not a lot of people choose it," he said with a grin. "I'll tell them."

Pepper nodded, twisting her hands, her heart hammering in her chest as Mark walked away. She glanced out at the people dancing and then at Tony and she sent him an icy glare. She could hear him laughing all the way across the room. Pepper wasn't a performer, and she didn't have stage presence, that was for _damn_ sure. The only time she had sung a song was in her shower, for crying out loud! She wasn't necessarily nervous…

The fact Tony was there to see made it that much worse.

Mark came back over, and just as the previous song ended, he took her hand and drew her over to the stairs. "Go on," he said, smiling with sweet encouragement.

Pepper bit her lip and nodded, climbing the little stairs with shaky legs and she swallowed deep. She felt her throat close as was about to make a run for it as soon as she heard the cello, its deep bass notes thumbing. Her nerves resisted and she felt giddy at the sound of the cymbal's rhythmic tapping. She walked up to the microphone, swallowing deep as she saw a few couples pull onto the dance floor.

"_Never know how much I love you, never know how much I care, when you put your arms around me, I get a fever that's so hard to bear- you give me fever…"_

Pepper was shocked at how smooth her voice was, especially when she was shaking. She squeezed her hands at her sides and felt a little braver that no one had ran screaming for the hills. Pepper felt all of her concentration go into each note that she sang, all of her focus beaming on the- the what? In the shower, she didn't concentrate when she was in the shower. Hell, she belted out the notes like she thought she was her very own Ella Fitzgerald. Then again, she didn't have a huge room full of people dancing either, but they seemed to like her so far, and considering the fact she wasn't drunk and that she was aware that she _should _be thinking of whatever consequences were probable in a situation like this and she wasn't- and that the crowd actually seemed to like her- Pepper sang on, and even relaxed a little.

"_When you kiss me, fever when you hold me tight- Fever in the morning, fever all through the night_…"

Tony heard the cello and had dipped his head to take a drink of the icy scotch that burned on the way down. When he heard the voice begin to sing, he had nearly dropped his glass. He whipped his head around, quite certain if his eyes were any wider his eyeballs would fall out. Tony had a fleeting thought that Pepper had ran and hightailed it home while he wasn't looking and that someone else was singing, but no. Sure enough, it was Pepper singing. His heart gave a sudden twist and he felt those damn- what did people call them? Butterflies? Why the hell were they called butterflies?-swirl in his stomach. Pepper's voice was…

Alluring. Seductive.

The sexiest damn thing he'd ever heard? That about covered it.

Pepper didn't seem nervous to Tony, and if she was she hid it well. He knew she hadn't had near enough alcohol to inhibit her judgment, too, so this was by her own free will (he ignored the fact he had set it all up during a vulnerable moment for her whilst she was on a trip to the forbidden ladies' room). Her voice was smooth, and perfect for this type of bluesy music. She would turn her head to the side for a moment, then sing the next verse, a light, glowing blush in her cheeks that made Tony swallow and his thoughts snowball into all of the various ways he could make her blush; these did not involve her on a stage, and in fact, involved a lot less than the little black number she wore. Then she would tilt her head just right, and a little glimmer in her eye appeared and she smiled.

Tony was lost.

Everyone else was pleased with Pepper's song as well, because as many people as could fit on the dance floor was now dancing, swaying to the nice jazzy tune. Tony thought about the Fire Fighter's night. It was not too much unlike now, except for the fact the media had been hotter for him at the time and he hadn't gone to make Pepper's evening memorable. He had put certain aspects of that night to memory: the way the silk of her gown had ghosted over her lithe figure, how her hair had sparkled in the lighting, the way her make up was just a bit darker and the fact her lips had been a moist pomegranate color that had made it so incredibly _hard_ not to return her advances. Looking back, the reasoning behind that (idiotic) decision escaped him as he watched Pepper sing.

"_Now you've listened to my story, here's the point that I have made, chicks were born to give you fever, be it Fahrenheit or centigrade- they give you fever_," Pepper smiled again. "_When you kiss them, fever if you live and learn- Fever! Till you sizzle, what a lovely way to burn, what a lovely way to burn, what a lovely way to burn_…"

The last little note was held, and it was so sweet and high that Tony forgot the scotch in his hand and it nearly slipped from his grasp as the rest of the restaurant applauded as the band played the last blast of drums and the trumpets whined. Pepper hurried off the stage, her face flushed and her hands shaking. She walked over to Tony and he was grinning in that way he used when he was inadvertently pleased and knew what he wanted and just how to get it. Pepper fell into his arms in a hug and was laughing-ignoring the fact she was treading in dangerous waters.

"Oh my God," she said, falling back into her chair, awe still glittering on her face like she'd powdered it there like pixie dust. "Look!" she put out her hands, her fingers trembling. She looked up at him, glowing from the adrenaline. "I can't believe…the fact you… and then that I actually…"

"I can't believe _you_," said Tony, his eyes sparkling with admiration for her. He had expected at the very least a threat, but now he sat there in full blown and honest to God impression on his face. "Holy shit, Pepper, why didn't you ever tell me you could sing like _that_?"

Pepper blushed deeper and replied, "I never planned to ever sing on a stage. Ever. And I'm never doing that again," she added quickly, taking a deep drink of her martini.

Tony grinned wolfishly. "We'll see, won't we."

There was that grin again.

Pepper ate an olive. "I mean it."

"I'm sure you do," he said, chuckling, unconvinced and not nearly put off enough to stop his antics for the rest of the evening, before jumping up. "Come on, time to split. It's a Friday night and I can't be seen in one place for more than an hour. It would ruin my _rep_."

"You say that like Paris Hilton admitting to how she can't wear the same thing twice on the red carpet," Pepper noted.

Tony screwed his face up in displeasure. "Did you just compare me to-?"

Pepper looked up, before downing the rest of her martini.

"Easy, Potts, I don't need you falling before we get busy," Tony said, waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively. Oh yeah, he'd been thinking. That comment easily earned him a slap on the arm. Tony grabbed her hand mid slap, though, noting how it elegantly fell to his will, and walked her out of the little restaurant, grinning like a fool.

Pepper smiled, tottering up on her heels to walk beside Tony. She felt elated, and just plain _giddy._ Pepper wasn't a giddy person- in fact, she wasn't a girl to giggle much, either. She hadn't felt like this in a long, long time. She slipped her hand back into Tony's in such a way that their fingers entwined. Once outside in the very chilled night air, Pepper leaned up and kissed his cheek- also another thing she never did. She would blame this on the alcohol consumption later. "Thank you," she said simply.

Tony glanced at her and pulled to a stop, raising an eyebrow. "Just on the cheek?" he asked. He sounded significantly disappointed.

Pepper rolled her eyes, walking to the door of his Audi as the valet held it open for her. "I know you've been thinking, Mr. Stark. Keep thinking, because that's all you'll get."

Tony watched her get in, noticing the way she slid into the seat so easy into her seat, the way her little dress's hem climbed up on her porcelain thigh, and the way she tossed her hair.

Tony blinked, then lowered his brow. _Shit. _

It was turning out to be a long night.

* * *

**10 Hours Later…**

Pepper Potts knew she had the mother of all hangovers even before she opened her eyes. She kept her eyes closed, dangling on the edge of what had been an extremely deep sleep, as she felt, listened, and tried to distinguish her surroundings. She was in a very comfortable place- too soft and too big to be a couch, and too silky to be her own bed, which alerted her first. The second thing that made her heart trip over itself was the soft breath she felt on her neck. She was suddenly aware of a heavy arm across her waist and a pleasantly rough goatee on her shoulder- her _naked_ shoulder.

Pepper had been around the block before with hangovers, and pulled back on the instinct to sit up too quickly, and enforced control over herself to slowly open her eyes, just in case the odds were in her favor and she had landed a lay with someone whose house that was _not_ controlled by a sarcastic AI with a distinct British accent and that controlled the blinds on the windows that overlooked Malibu's coast. Her heart caved in.

Suspicions confirmed: she was in Tony Stark's bed.

Pepper kept her breathing to the bare minimum, trying to reign in control on her reactions and emotions, and even bit down on her lip to silence the groan at how heavy her head felt when she turned her face to a very ruffled dark head that was nuzzling her neck. Pepper's lofty blue eyes glanced down and she was relieved to see her dress from the night before still clinging to her body, though Tony had lost his shirt at some point and she noticed that even in the darkness of the room she could make out the blue, purple, and yellow display of bruises that ghosted across Tony's back.

Pepper pushed herself up enough so that she could lean against the headboard. She took in her surroundings, noticing that Tony's discarded shirt, tie, and jacket were thrown carelessly on the floor, and that her heels were there among them. She racked her brain, as much as that pained her, to try to wrestle out some remnant of thought as to what the hell had happened last night.

Pepper came up with a considerable amount, and this is what she came up with:

The evening had started from a stupid song she had been humming (which also triggered the memory that she needed to call someone to clean the couch).

She also recalled that, for some reason that border lined insanity, she had agreed on a night out with Tony Stark, which had included music, dancing, and booze. The first part hadn't been so bad, but she also recalled a kiss, a few drinks, and a dance- not necessarily in that order.

The second part of the evening was what she was having problems remembering. She could remember climbing out of the Audi and going into the bar with her hand in Tony's. She remembered how he had tried to hook her arm through his, and had told him no to that, because it had made her feel like she was his lady- or one of his ladies, rather and she had gone on to inform him that she had no intention of being seen in the public eye as such.

"_I know we might be… out, but I'm your personal assistant, Tony, please remember this,"_ she had said.

"_Close, but not quite. Try to shorten it."_

A funny look in his direction. _"Shorten it? Shorten what?"_

"_The 'your personal assistant' part."_

"_Like… PDA?" _

"_Shorter."_

"_I don't know any other references to the title of my job, Tony." _Except maybe lackey, but she was hoping he thought more of her than that.

"_Hack off the 'personal' and the 'assistant' part, Pepper, and you've got it right."_

Pepper could remember she still hadn't been able to understand him, but he had taken her by her wrist, yanked her forward onto the dance floor that was hazy with cigarette smoke, dark with dimmed lights, and so loud with music that the vibrations from the speakers sent vibrations in her chest. Pepper had no choice in the matter but to follow him as he pulled her against him. She had felt his hands on her arms and how he had placed her wrists behind his neck. She had felt how her hips were precariously close to his, and recounted how many times she'd pushed her chest against his in an attempt to not brush other places of his body. Then, he'd flattened one hand against her lower back and the other came to spear up through her hair as his lips brushed her ear.

"_My personal assistant; Just simply __mine__."_

Pepper shivered inwardly at the thought, and looked down at her employer to find that his defined muscular arm was still draped over her abdomen, as if he knew she'd make a run for it and he was trying to keep her there in the messy, garnet red silk sheets for as long as he could. Pepper hesitated, then laid one of her hands on his back as if she was comforting him, the other tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She really wanted a hot shower and some coffee, but she didn't want to get up just yet. She was waiting out for the room to stop its spinning. The fact Jarvis hadn't chimed in yet to ring them both a good morning was surprising to her, and she wondered if Tony had asked Jarvis to let them sleep in last night. She couldn't remember.

Back to her lazy attempt to remember things from the night before, she could remember she'd consumed a lot of alcohol; this being more than she ever had in her life, only because Tony had said he'd wanted to dance with her and the kind of dancing he had meant would require an amazing absence of judgment and decency, and Pepper 'In-Her-Right-Mind' Potts would never be caught dead doing those things without some stimulants. It had swiftly (this is how calculating her brain was, even with the hangover of a lifetime) come close to her twelfth martini, or maybe a little more, she wasn't sure, before some other things had happened.

Pepper closed her eyes, recalling flashes of memory from the night before like a movie reel. Pieces and fragments jumbled together included Tony's hand sliding up her thigh under her dress, her lips at his ear more than once, her hands fisting at his suit jacket, his hair, shoulders… Pepper groaned softly, putting a hand to her forehead to calm the spinning of the room. How had she even agreed to this? She never, _ever_ went out with Tony unless it was strictly business. What had last night been? Just some sort of distraction for him?

Pepper felt that bubble of disappointment well up in her chest. It was the same feeling that she had experienced that night on the balcony of the Disney Hall. How could he have just _stood_ there? So casual as if he heard his assistant spout off about how he was with women every day. She hated him for that, how he could be so… suave about something that meant so much, especially to her. Pepper blinked and felt her eyes stinging, and dismissed it as part of the alcohol's effects.

Pepper waiting another long moment, before gently moving Tony's arm off of her waist and slipped out of the bed. She gathered herself a moment to get her footing, and tip toed quietly over to grab her shoes. She was very quiet as she opened the door and sneaked out, scampering silently down the hall to the guest room. Experience had always taught Pepper to be prepared, and since she stayed so much at Tony's house anyway, she had learned to keep an emergency bag in the guest bedroom. Simple things, such as an extra pants suit, a spare bra and underwear, socks, tooth brush and tooth paste, deodorant (especially after The Incident, which the Fire Fighter's Benefit had been dubbed in her book), a hair brush, and some other hygiene products.

Pepper grabbed the bag that she had stashed beneath the bed and tip toed into the restroom. It wasn't nearly as grand as Tony's master bath, but it was still big. She set her bag down on the counter space and began to hurriedly undress. She jumped into the shower, using the soap and shampoo that was there (who had put this stuff there anyway?) and was out in less than five minutes. She dressed hurriedly after toweling off, throwing her hair back into a neat, pinned bun, her bangs curling softly as they air dried. Pepper ruffled around in her purse and applied some light make up, brushed her teeth and deemed herself ready.

Pepper set to work on her normal morning routine which, of course, centered around Tony. While she waited for his coffee to brew, she found him two aspirin and some water and set it quietly on his nightstand, gathered his discarded clothes and put them aside to send to the dry cleaners.

Something shiny caught her eye, and Pepper noticed her Blackberry twinkling at her from half way beneath the silky sheets, and that it was dangerously close to Tony's shoulder. Pepper's fingers drummed against her thighs as she bit her lip, making a mental pros and cons list about getting her phone, before nodding to herself. Tony was laying in such a way that no matter which side she came from on the bed, she'd still be leaning over him. So, with as much gentleness as Pepper could muster, she leaned her knee on the edge of the bed, and began to reach over Tony's body. Just as her fingers wrapped around the smooth phone, a rough, calloused hand shot out around her wrist and Pepper was suddenly pulled over Tony with a yelp and she hit the mattress with her back hard.

"I was wondering when you were coming back to bed," Tony said gruffly, staring at her with very much awake dark eyes. He didn't sound… pleased. "Were you planning on leaving?"

"No," Pepper answered truthfully, watching him. "In fact, I was going down stairs to get you your coffee, Mr. Stark."

Tony frowned a little at his last name being used, and took in her clean, pinned, and pressed appearance. She looked impeccably fresh, and Tony was having a hard time trying to figure out how she could pull that off.

"How long have you been awake?" her voice pulled him from his thoughts. She looked timid, hesitant, but willing to talk.

"Since you sat up in bed," He spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully.

Pepper, fully clothed, laid back down next to him, turning her clean, fresh, pretty face towards his unshaven, ruffled one. "Why didn't you say anything?" she asked.

"I wanted to see what you would do," Tony said, watching her. "But then your phone went off and I knew you wouldn't leave without it, so I waited."

Pepper blinked, then narrowed her eyes slightly. "And if I hadn't have come back?"

"I would know that you were more eager to get out before I woke up than I thought," said Tony, pushing his arm beneath his head. "Though why, I'm not so sure. It's not the first time you've fallen asleep in my house before."

"I have never fallen asleep in your _bed_ before."

Tony pushed himself up, and she noted how serious he looked. "Do you remember what happened last night?" he asked quietly. He wasn't looking right at her, in fact, he was staring at her phone.

"A little," she admitted.

Tony looked up into her eyes and she saw… hurt? This alarmed her and Pepper sat up to. "What? Why? What happened?" she asked, swallowing.

Tony sighed, ran a hand through his hair and glanced back at the floor before a grin spread across his face. "Well… Miss Potts, you were very drunk."

"As if you can talk," Pepper scoffed, smoothing her suit jacket out.

"I can!" Tony retorted, a grin forming wider on his face. "I stopped drinking when we got to that dance club. You were the one downing martinis like you were popping M&M's. I'll have you know I was the designated driver- I know, scary, isn't it?"

Pepper's mouth was open in shock. She stuttered slightly, images, colors and questions swimming in her mind. "But… but- your clothes-"

"I believe you'll need these more than I will," Tony said, dropping the aspirin into her hand, handing her the water as he sat back comfortably, watching her with amusement as she took them without another word.

"Then… what about- your clothes-" Pepper blinked, but Tony smiled even brighter. He leaned up across the bed and kissed her on the cheek, his goatee rubbing against her soft skin. He then stood up and began to saunter to the bathroom.

"I brought you in to drop you off in a guest room, but you were a woman on a mission," Tony laughed as he recalled it, and turned, grinning with amusement. "You were very intent on getting me undressed, Miss Potts."

Pepper blushed brighter than she ever had in her life, grabbed her Blackberry, and stood up. "I was… simply getting you ready for bed, Mr. Stark," she stammered, knowing full well he knew better. So without another explanation, Pepper strode to the door, and heard Tony call after her, laughing.

"You were certainly getting me ready for _something_!"

Pepper would never, _ever_ live this down.

* * *

**AN: **I think this huge update deserves reviews. :)


	13. A Vision

**AN: **_I know. I know what you are thinking, and I know that I have no excuse… except, funny thing is, I really do. I've been apart of an acting conservatory the past month, and since it consumed eight hours of my day, by the time I got home, I was mentally and physically- and we'll go ahead and throw emotionally in there too- exhausted, but it's given me time to work on some things that have been floating around in my head. So, with my utmost humbleness, I apologize for the wait._

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything, but I'm slowly winding my way in…

* * *

**A Vision**

White had never been her color.

Pepper sighed, staring at herself in the mirror across the room. She wasn't a "vision in white" like brides _should_ be. White made her look pasty instead of charmingly pale. White made her fetching red hair look like tuffs of carrot colored fuzz. White made her feel bright, too, and she felt like she was standing out in the crowd. For years, Pepper's job was to _not_ stand out, to be the recruiter behind the scenes that made the show come together. Being the center of attention was never her cup of tea.

Even on her wedding day, which was ironic, since it was supposed to be _her_ day.

When Pepper searched into her mind, though, she knew it wasn't because she was the center of attention. That's not what was bothering her. It had nothing to do with wearing white, or that she didn't think she looked good. It had to do with the fact that she was getting married within the hour, and the one person she wanted to be here wasn't.

Pepper was aware that Tony Stark was known well for his fashionably late arrivals, but it was _her_ wedding. It was her _wedding._ After all these years, she was sure he would have had a little more respect for her than that… and then, Pepper sat back and looked down at her engagement ring that twinkled on her left hand. It wasn't the fact that Tony wasn't there. It was that… well, more to the point, it was that he wasn't busting down a door demanding his rights, staking his claim- on _her._ What a thought to have on your wedding day… that you were wishing a man would burst in and kidnap you, sweep you off your feet and take you far away from all of those prying eyes that call themselves guests.

It wasn't because he was late. It was because he wasn't there with her.

Her fiance should be at the altar by now. Why was she thinking about her _boss_? She should be thinking about the man she was going to be marrying. The man who had promised to do so much for her, the man who had proposed to her in the most romantic way…

And what was she wanting? A bucket of bolts who called himself _Iron Man._

Pepper groaned and sank down in her chair, her wedding dress rustling with the movement. She had always seen that suit as some sort of… unusual and cruel mystic figure that didn't really exist. Why? Because she didn't work for Iron Man. She worked for Tony Stark… or, at least, until Tony Stark blabbed to the entire world that he was, indeed, Iron Man. Now she got the package deal and went to bed with a head ache every night.

What if, though, this man, her fiance, could take away that headache? What if there was something he could do to balance this hectic and chaotic way she was living? If only to take her away from Stark Industries for a few hours… to clear her head and make her feel like a normal human being…

The door opened and Pepper looked up, expecting her mother or sister, and was met with the impressive cut of Tony Stark in a sharp tuxedo and looking as handsome as sin.

Pepper's jaw would have hit the floor if it was possible.

"_WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE? GET OUT!"_ She would have shrieked, but the shock of the sight of him phased it into a harsh whisper.

Tony shut the door behind him, grinning with shiny white teeth. It was a wolfish grin, one of those grins Pepper always read about in fiction novels. It was pure mischief and glee rolled into one twitch of his lips.

"Potts, I must say you look _ravishing_. What a lucky man your fiance is," Tony said, walking into the room, messing with some nick nacks on the dresser.

Pepper was about to throw one of those silly nick knacks at his head, until she blushed. "Thank you," she mumbled. "He thinks so, too."

"Arrogant bastard, in my opinion," Tony said with a sniff. Pepper frowned. He did this often, and she was on her guard automatically. "Not knowing that what he has is too good for him."

"He's a respectable man, Tony Stark, and I'll thank you to take that back," Pepper growled, marching over to him and taking the object- a rose of all things- out of his hands and laying it down.

"Not on your life, Potts. Besides," Tony grinned, leaning down toward her. "You always liked it straight forward."

Pepper frowned. "I thought no one was supposed to see the bride before the wedding."

"I get anything I want," Tony said easily, watching her with a glint in his eye.

Pepper huffed and turned on her heel, marching over to the white sofa and picking up her bouquet, her fingers sifting through the flowers. So she was pouting. It was her party, damn it (she refused to finish the end of that mantra).

Pepper felt Tony come up behind her and suddenly his strong arms were winding their way around her waist. A gasp sucked in through her lips and Tony's mouth was pressed against her ear. "What do you say we get out of here? You and me, speeding down the highway. We'll pull over, walk down the beach, probably mess your dress up-"

"Tony."

"Yes?" Tony grinned, nuzzling her soft neck.

Pepper repressed a shiver and turned, forcing her hardest glare she could find (which really wasn't a glare, just one of those looks that told him to get his ass moving). She slapped him upside the head with her bouquet, which didn't hurt but made him smile.

"There are over 500 guests in there."

"Come on, Potts. I've blown off a lot more people than _that._"

"Yes, but it was never at your own invitation," Pepper rolled her eyes at the thought. "Your wedding. Your guests."

Tony huffed and threw his hands up, walking to the door, muttering something about, "…why do I even bother…"

Pepper smiled, putting her bouquet up to her face to smell the sweet fragrance of the flowers. "See you at the altar, Iron Man," she murmured. He smiled as he left his bride to finish getting ready.

Tony always thought she looked good in white.

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**AN:** Review please? :D


	14. Like A Rare Woman

**A/N: _Hey guys, I am so sorry about the long delay. I've been going through a lot. I live in Texas and hurricane Ike tore through here pretty badly. I've been very blessed, though. I was only without power for less than 48 hours! No damage to our house except our outdoor lamp is now hanging off our wall P But now I'm back!_**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Song is _The Island_ by Keith Harkin from Celtic Thunder.

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**Like A Rare Woman**

Pepper wasn't sure what to expect when she pulled up into the drive way of Tony's house, but she was on edge

Pepper wasn't sure what to expect when she pulled up into the drive way of Tony's house, but she was on edge. He had sounded so strange on the phone, and she had hoped that after sealing the deal with Fury he would have been feeling a little bit better. She wasn't sure why he was so melancholy lately, and it bothered her. Tony usually told her everything, and if he didn't, he would get around to it. Pepper grabbed her purse and keys and got out of her car. She walked up to the front door, still dressed in her pencil skirt and blouse from work. Before she could get the door open Jarvis swung it open for her.

"Good evening, Miss Potts," Jarvis said in a sterile voice.

"Thank you, Jarvis," Pepper murmured, concern lacing her voice. It was quiet, oddly so, but what was even more intriguing was that it wasn't _silent._ Soft, tinkling piano music was drifting through the house and it made the hair on the back of Pepper's neck stand up. The last time a piano was played in Tony's house, it was Obadiah playing, and since then that piano was destroyed. Pepper didn't remember Tony getting a new one, but then again she wasn't paying much attention to anything other than her Blackberry that constantly rang or the inbox that was constantly full.

Pepper sat her purse and keys down on the hall table and walked quietly into the living room. Other than the piano, it was just the waterfall that was softly flowing off the wall. Pepper felt something bloom in her chest: it was a sad feeling. The tune that the piano was evoking in her was practically breaking her heart for reasons she didn't know. As Pepper slowly walked into the living room, she came around the edge of the corner to the steps that lead up to the piano, where she found Tony Stark leaning over a brand new shiny, black Steinway grand piano. The ivories were smooth under his calloused fingers, and he looked oddly out of place in his faded jeans and oil stained shirt. However, as Pepper came around a little bit more, she saw his profile, the way his hair gently fall onto his forehead and the way his features were relaxed and at ease. He wasn't looking at any music, but staring out the large window that overlooked the ocean.

"Tony?" Pepper murmured, feeling like a proper criminal for breaking the tranquil moment.

Tony was humming under his breath, and without breaking the tune, he gently nodded his head in his direction, telling her to come over. Pepper came up the steps and carefully sat down beside him on the piano bench, watching his hands before looking up at him questioningly. Her blue eyes were quizzical and she was caught in between curiosity and wonder. It wasn't like when Tony was caught up in a project, when his attention was solely focused on a task. He was indeed focused, but he was pensive. Pepper could tell from the way his eyes looked so distant.

Tony continued to play, and Pepper tried to place the song. It was beautiful, long and flowing until it would come to an abrupt cord that clearly brought your attention front and center. Then… the chorus… it was like a flurry of snow flakes pulling the strands of red gold hair out of her bun and gently tickling her skin. It was enrapturing and soon Pepper found herself in a dreamy, romantic place that had her warm and soft and she didn't want to leave.

Tony watched Pepper's features, admired how the creases in her forehead softened and the corners of her lips turned gently up. Her eyes turned a tender shade of blue as she looked out the same window he had been looking out moments ago. Without breaking the tune, Tony slid his arm underneath the closer of Pepper's arms to reach the higher keys, all the while watching her profile. He began to loop the song, not letting it end. He found that was something beautiful about the piano, about music. You didn't ever have to turn it off, and even if you were stuck in a dank, dark cave, you could still use your voice to sing. Music was something that Tony had never mastered; music had mastered _Tony._ It intrigued him to no end, because it was one of the only things he had found in life that could enrapture him so entirely that he had come to a stand still. This song was evidence of that, just by looking at Pepper and the beautiful way she was day dreaming of things he felt were too personal to ask, though he wanted to know them badly.

Tony was easing himself back into the romantic lull of the song, but Pepper's voice interrupted his lazy concentration.

"Sing some of it," she murmured.

Without question or a stray beat, Tony's rich voice quietly filled the little alcove where the piano sat. "_Up here we sacrifice our children to feed the worn out dreams of yesterday and teach them dying will lead us into glory-But hey, don't listen to me,  
cause this wasn't meant to be no sad song… I've sung too much of that before…right now I only want to be with you till the morning dew comes falling…_"

Pepper's breath caught softly in her chest and she drew her eyes slowly up from the window, down to Tony's hands, then up his arms until she was looking at the side of his face. Then, the beautiful whirl of the snowflakes started again, wrapping around her and Pepper was content to listen to the song.

"_I want to take you to the island, trace your footprints in the sand, and in the evening when there's no one around, we'll make love to the sound of the ocean_…"

Tony's fingers slipped on the keys on the last chord when Pepper rested her hand on his arm. Tony let his hands fall from the keys and rest on his legs, looking down at the shiny white ivories. Pepper wrapped her arm through his and gently rested her head on his shoulder.

"When did you get a new piano?" Pepper finally asked after a few minutes of silence.

Tony smiled gently and wrapped his arm around Pepper's shoulders. He stood up with her from the piano and they both lazily walked over to his couch. "This morning," he said as they plopped down on the sofa. As if synchronized, both put their feet up, one pair was stiletto clad and sexy, the other was booted and scuffed.

"I could've ordered it for you, Tony. You must have had to gone across town to get it," Pepper said, leaning her head against his shoulder comfortably. "For that matter you didn't even mention you wanted a new piano in the first place."

"Miss Potts, you have a lot to learn about music," Tony said as if schooling a student.

"Tony, I have played the flute for eighteen years."

Tony blinked in astonishment and looked down at the beautiful redhead that was reclined against him underneath his arm. "Really? I didn't know that."

"Yes, well, I never had a reason to bring it up," Pepper said with a smile, watching the sunset's gleam off Tony's boot.

"Well, nevertheless, you have a lot to learn about the _piano_," Tony said with a nod. "A piano is…" He grinned as his hand began to drag up and down Pepper's arm slowly. "…like a fine wine or a rare woman. You treat her with respect… she holds a certain regal authority in a part of your life and…"

Pepper looked at him out of the corner of her eyes as Tony leaned down and whispered in her ear, "…she can make the most _beautiful_ sounds…"

Pepper elbowed him and Tony threw his head back with a laugh that sounded like a bark. Pepper smirked and nodded. "Then why didn't you let me buy you one sooner?" she asked, looking up at him.

"As I said, I wouldn't have my assistant call a rare woman- wait, wait, WAIT, no comment. I will fire you if you comment. Ignore what I just said."

Pepper was in stitches, giggling at his side, and Tony grinned too. It was true. She _did_ make the most beautiful sounds. "A piano is like a rare woman, as I said…" Tony looked down at her and sighed, mumbling the last bit of his thought. "…it has to be something special when you meet. You can't just make a call, order her right on up. It's something you have to do yourself."

Pepper looked up at Tony, leaning her head back on his shoulder.

Tony smiled and pressed his lips into her red hair. "Because every time you see her, she'll strike a chord on your heart strings and that, my dear Miss Potts, sets her apart from all the rest."

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**AN: **Review please )


	15. The Practical Gift

Title: The Practical Gift

Author: lizbethmairead

Theme: #85 Busy

Rating: pg/k+

Words: 628

Summary: Tony gives Pepper a gift.

**Disclaimer: Credited at the bottom. Sorry it's so short, but this little idea was bugging me... eh. Thanks to all my reviewers, I love you guys. I'm trying to get back on track here as best as I can, and I can't do it without you!**

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"Oh my God. Tony-"

"It's great, isn't it?" Tony shoved his fists into his slacks pockets, grinning as he stared at his new creation with pride and intrigue. Pepper stared. Her mouth was wide open. Pepper stared some more. Tony looked over at her, his eyebrows raised.

Pepper slowly shook her head from side to side in disbelief. "And… does it actually… you know?"

Tony broke into a handsome smile and shrugged. "Well, I figured since you're my assistant- which is enough of a job as it is- you could use your own. Do you like it?" he asked, openly wanting her approval and her excitement level to reach his own.

Pepper had to admit, if she lined up all of the little "things" Tony had made her over the years, this would definitely top them all.

Tony's reproduction of the adorable robot Wall E sat on the floor in between the genius and the personal assistant, his big, round eyes adjusting as he looked up curiously into their faces. Pepper smiled. It was really kind of cute for a robot.

"But instead of trash…" Tony knelt down and tapped the Wall E on the head and the little robot shook his big eyes for a second and popped open his body to reveal… a filing cabinet.

"Tony, this is great," Pepper laughed, kneeling down in front of the little robot, too. Tony stroked his goatee with a grin, watching the robot look up at Pepper and distribute a surprised, "Woah!" when he saw her up close.

"Wall E, Pepper. Pepper, Wall E," Tony said, giving them a formal introduction.

Pepper smiled and looked at the stack of papers she had in her arms, before offering it to the little robot. Wall E jumped- if robots could jump, that is- and zoomed up to Pepper, happy to help and took the papers from her hands. He popped open the compartment to his body and began sorting through the different types of documents Pepper had and filed them away.

"Just ask for what you need and he'll deliver," Tony said, standing up and walking over to the work bench, cleaning up some scraps.

Pepper grinned like a two year old at Christmas, watching the little robot file away her papers in less than ten seconds. It was perfect. It was just what she needed, especially after Tony's legendary fiasco of not sticking to the cards. She had so much extra work and was so busy…

Pepper bit her lip and straightened up, walking over to her employer while his back was turned. She didn't know how to do this, especially when the last time had gone so well (not), but she was going to… you know… try. Pepper tapped Tony on the shoulder, and just as he turned she threw her arms around his neck in a tight, thankful hug.

Tony's eyes widened in surprise and it was a moment before he could gently rest his hands innocently on her back, returning the gesture and letting her hug him. He smiled a little and mumbled. "I guess… that's what I get for bootlegging movies, right?" He had only wanted to watch the movie because they said there was robots involved and, like the kid in him that would probably never grow up, he was insanely curious.

"I'm going to ignore that comment like you never said it," Pepper said, letting him go and smoothing her jacket down, looking over at the little robot who was doing something… odd.

"What's he doing?" Pepper blinked.

Tony leaned back against the work bench, looking at Wall E who had his little "hands" held together. Tony thought of the Pixar movie and smiled a little.

"Oh, nothing," Tony dismissed it, turning back to his workbench. Pepper had no idea that Tony had made the little robot multifunctional.

In two years, it would be a toy chest and the best playmate for their first baby.

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Tony or Pepper, and ESPECIALLY not** **Wall E. Inspired by the new Pixar movie 'Wall E.' Review, please?**


	16. Asylum

**A/N: _Hey guys! Not much to say about this peice.. except I'm trying to write more serious, darker stories and less fluffier ones. Please let me know if you think I'm on my way and what I might should do. I would greatly appreciate it! :) Thank you SO MUCH to all my reviewers, you guys keep me going and make my day worth while!_**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tony or Pepper. :( That's so sad.**

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**Asylum**

He could still taste dust and gravel on his tongue and in his mouth, and dirt caked his throat. Every time he breathed in, it was hot, dry, and he coughed haggardly like a man who had been smoking for the past eighty years. He tasted the desert every time he swallowed. The room was dimmed with the curtains half drawn but the sunlight hit him in a streak across the face that made him squint. Sweat dripped from the ends of his dark hair and ran down the side of his face, making the cut that curved from his cheek bone to his jaw sting hellishly.

There had been a leak of news about a weapons hoard just south of Gulmira. Perhaps he'd been too comfortable with the system to really think it through, to put the pieces together. The rage in his veins burned to think about his weapons still out there and the only way to cool that was the rushing wind as he flew miles above civilization, knowing he was one more step to putting it to an end. He hadn't stopped to think that it could have been a set up, that the enemy was bringing him right into their cage. It had taken hours longer than anticipated and he'd had to collapse a mountain of rock just to get out of the trap they had set for him.

He groaned as he shifted, the suit making his joints stiff and his back ache a little. He was not exactly hiding from Pepper, per say, but he was definitely avoiding her. He had holed up in one of the rooms often used to store things. Things like the Jackson Pollok or a priceless sculpture from Italy. Every time he came home, whether he landed smoothly or was raggedly tearing at his helmet to get it off, Pepper played nurse to his wounds. She would tire endlessly until his bruises, cuts, scrapes, and sores were mended. Tony didn't like it when she did that. She shouldn't have to mend him. She shouldn't have to sew him up. She shouldn't have to do half of the things she did do, and Tony felt an overwhelming wave of searing guilt wash over him like heart burn and curl up like a serpent and wind through his ribs.

So he was avoiding her until he could do all of those things himself so she wouldn't take it upon herself to do it. He didn't have the energy to get out of the suit yet, and it hurt just to raise his arms or roll his head. Somehow he found a way to drink a tumbler of scotch though, tasting the alcohol, the sweat from his lips, and the dirt at the same time. He thought about getting drunk. Hell, he'd thought about it more than once since he had began this whole ordeal. He was trying to avoid slipping into bad habits like that, and it was hard, especially when it was helping numb the pain and keep his mind cloudy, though now his throat was not only dry but on fire.

Tony sat back, leaning his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. That's where Pepper found him two and a half hours later, asleep, sitting on the floor against the wall, still in the suit, sweaty, bloody, and his hand still gripping the nearly empty tumbler of scotch.

_Tony!_

It was the same way he had heard her say his name in the cave. _Tony!_ He still remembered being shoved down under the water, how he couldn't breathe and the water started getting through into his lungs. His dreams were foggy about that, and he had wondered if he had really heard her.

_Tony!_

He was sure, now, that he had.

"Tony!"

A sudden wash of ice water hit him in the face and Tony jerked awake, spluttering, choking on air as he tried to breathe, and still feeling the water clog his lungs in his dream. He groaned when his eyes began to sting from the water, and realized it wasn't water but scotch.

"What is going on?"

Tony opened his eyes, looking up through his sweaty, wet hair at his assistant who was standing over him, the crystal tumbler in her hand dripping onto the floor. She was glaring and it wasn't a far cry to say she was probably pissed off. Tony cursed inwardly. He hadn't meant to fall asleep; he was supposed to be down stairs by now-

"Are you going to answer me?" Pepper asked. Her voice was quiet in a dangerous way. She was giving him that one look, too, that look that clearly was daring him to make an ass of himself, to say something stupid or sarcastic.

Oh yes, she was indeed _pissed_.

"Nothing, nothing's going on, I was just sleeping because I've been awake for twenty one hours." So much for not making an ass of himself.

"Tony, I've been trying to reach you since eight this morning. Do you know what time it is?"

"No, I don't know what time it is," he muttered, but his voice was soft, almost ashamed.

"It's ten thirty at night. I thought you would call me, but you haven't even tried. How could you just leave and not even say anything?"

"It was an abrupt emergency, Pepper. I had to go."

Pepper pursed her pale pink lips, her hands balled into fists at her sides. Tony watched her petite, thin fingers curl and uncurl, restraining her anger, reining it in like a herd of demon possessed horses. Hell hath no fury when Pepper was concerned.

"You should have told me- Tony, you should have _told_ me," she said through her teeth, trying her hardest to keep herself grounded. A long moment of silence stretched and Tony waited for Pepper to realize that he wasn't going to say anything. He should have called her, it was true. He should have reached her somehow to tell her that he was alive. But Tony had his reasons, and for now, he wasn't ready to hurt Pepper's feelings over them. He knew she would take it personal that he didn't want her to have to take care of his bloody, bruised messes, but it wasn't her job to be his doctor. She shouldn't have to pick shrapnel out of his back.

Pepper sighed, giving up with wrangling something out of him. She looked him over before stating, "You need to get out of that thing."

"Yeah, about that, I can't- can't really get up," Tony groaned, trying to shift from his stiff position. "Can you help me?"

Pepper hesitated. "I can try- it's really heavy though," she said, moving around to kneel beside him, putting his red and gold arm over her shoulders. "I nearly threw my back out getting you off the roof that night."

Tony hissed as his muscles stretched as he started to move, and muttered, "If you can't do it, don't try, Pepper. You'll hurt yourself."

"Oh shut up, you've been in worse situations," She muttered back.

Tony smiled a little at that. "Ready?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm ready-okay, one-"

"Two, three-"

Tony pushed himself back against the wall as much as he could to distribute his weight somewhere else, and pushed up with his other arm from his ankles. Pepper pulled him up with her as she stood up, her heels wavering dangerously beneath her legs. Tony shouted when they stood up together, pain radiating up and down his spine from his legs all the way up to his neck. Tony fell back against the corner of the wall and Pepper, nearly trapped under his arm, leaned against him, breathless from the strain.

"How… how do you function in that thing?" she whispered, swallowing. It was even heavier when he had been nothing but dead weight on the roof, but after such a long day it seemed hundreds of pounds heavier. It was definitely harder for Tony after the physical and mental strain. He wasn't sure how to answer her question.

Pepper leaned up off of him, pushing her bangs out of her eyes, swallowing. "Okay, okay- Tony, we'll do this, everything will be fine, okay? Everything will be fine. I'm going to fix this."

Tony breathed deeply and it felt as though he was breathing in sand again. He nodded, groggy from the effects of exhaustion. Pepper's voice was misty and distorted to his ears as the blood rushed to his head. He leaned against the corner of the wall, watching his assistant kick off her Jimmy Choos and pad over to him. She was making sure she had enough weight distribution… shit, she was going to have to take him down stairs-

"Pepper, I can get down stairs," he said as quickly as he could, trying to stop her.

"Shut up," she answered promptly, coming back up under his arm. It was hard, the suit was heavy against her lithe frame, but Tony helped as much as he could, dragging his legs in an attempt to walk. His muscles screamed in protest. The trickiest part was the stairs. Pepper hopped down each step, making sure that Tony went before her so she could balance both of them. Tony leaned against the wall again, vivid memories flashed behind his eye lids of when he had struggled down stairs after having the arc reactor extracted from the hole in his chest.

"Javis, unlock the shop, please," Pepper called, her voice thinner and strained as she pulled Tony back upwards.

"Yes, Miss Potts," the British voice responded smoothly as the door was pushed open by an invisible force.

"Get me to the launch pad," Tony muttered, dragging himself with Pepper's help to the center of the garage. He stood just above where the floor rose, clearing his mind as best as he could to make sure he was in the right place. "Jarvis, help me get this thing off!"

"As you wish," Jarvis said, letting the mechanical arms down from above to extract Tony's arm and shoulder armor.

Tony whistled and the other robots zoomed up to him, eager to do their job and help their inventor out of his suit. Pepper stood back, waiting and ready in case anything went wrong. The chest plate was the hardest to get off, and when Butter Fingers finally got it loose Tony nearly fell forward, flailing his arms to keep his balance while he was still planted in the boots. Pepper jumped forward, her hands splayed over his under armor suited chest to help him stand. Two other robots were working on the boots below them.

Tony's breathing was erratic. "You'd think I would have… gotten an easier way to do this by now."

"It took us long enough to fix the hole in the ceiling and floor, so no… I'm not surprised, actually," Pepper muttered. One little robot yanked the left boot off and Tony jumped, yelping.

"HEY! Hey, watch it!"

The little robot zoomed away, happy he had done his job. Meanwhile the right boot was still trying to be pried open.

"Oh… _Tony_, God- look at you-"

Tony looked down at Pepper to find that one of her hands covered her mouth and her eyes were wide as she looked at him. Tony grimaced and unzipped the top half of the under armor. He had suffered some damage, but nothing he couldn't handle. Large welts covered his chest, surrounded by yellowish spots that would be purple and black tomorrow. He had a burn on his neck from where hot shrapnel had trapped its way against the suit's collar after he had torn his helmet off.

"Banged up," Tony sighed, looking down at his chest, his fingers circling around the arc reactor's edges where the skin was red and angry. Tony smiled a little and looked back up at his assistant. "And you were worried about bullets."

Pepper curled and uncurled her fists again as the last boot was removed. "You need a doctor," she muttered.

"I know how to treat burns, Pepper, and none of this is actually that ba-"

"I mean a psychiatrist," Pepper murmured, looking down.

Tony stopped, his mouth snapping shut and his whole body freezing. He turned his eyes over to her, looking at her and feeling like he might nearly fall over again. Tony watched Pepper, wanting her to look at him but she wouldn't. He felt slightly angry at this, his jaw clenching and his hands tightening at his sides. He turned his back to her and walked to the medical chair where he worked to replace the arc reactor. He pushed himself up on it, hissing in pain as his muscles burned and felt as if they were tearing beneath his skin.

"So you think I need a shrink?" he asked, looking up at her. He was accusing.

"I think you need to talk to someone about this," Pepper said, finally looking up at him, walking over. No clicking noises filled the room since her heels were still up stairs, so it was painfully quiet in the garage. "People are scarred by memories like these, Tony. It's not good for you to harbor what you have had to see."

"I'm not 'harboring' anything, Miss Potts," Tony growled, his anger flaring. "I do not intend to see a shrink either…" He looked up at her, a gleaming glare in his dark eyes. "Think I'll go crazy?"

Pepper swallowed, her face drawn. "No."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying, I'm concerned. You should have gone to see someone after you got back," Pepper said, watching him. "If you're not careful, this will start to affect you."

"It's not going to affect me," he insisted.

"It already is."

Tony laughed cruelly, shaking his head. "Oh _really_, Miss Potts? How, pray tell?"

Pepper's jaw tightened and her eyes were icy. "You have nightmares," she stated.

Tony's face fell slowly and he swallowed. It was true, he did have nightmares. Sometimes he had dreams of being stuck in the cold, rat hole. Sometimes he dreamt that his escape was a dream itself, that he was still back there and that all this time he was imagining things. Those particular dreams left him in a sweat, but the nightmares that woke him up were the rare ones. They involved the night when Stane had officially gone insane. It was normally the same, but sometimes a detail or two was different. The first time he had dreamt it, he had fallen from the roof onto the control panel and died in front of Pepper. The second time had been worse: Pepper hadn't even been there. She had already left him. The third time though… the third time he had woken up and was physically ill. He was feeling that same nausea that made him want to vomit just thinking about what would have happened if Pepper hadn't gotten out after blowing the arc reactor.

He would have killed her.

Tony looked up at her and felt the sharpest intrusion of guilt. This was worse than the guilt of her having to mend his wounds. It was raw, bleeding, festering, hissing and snapping at his mind and leaving him almost breathless. His eyes stung from the desert dust residue and salty tears that were threatening his eyes as he looked up at her.

"Do you think that I have gone insane?" he murmured, his lips barely moving. Of course she did. She wouldn't be suggesting a shrink otherwise. She was subtly trying to get him mental help because he was traumatized. He had been tortured and held under water and he had heard her voice and tasted blood and dust and suddenly everything that he thought was right was being smothered.

But Pepper reacted before the damage was done. She came up to him and pushed his sweat and scotch dried hair away from his eyes. "No, I don't," she said softly. Her nimble fingers traced down his jaw and lifted his chin up so his eyes met hers. There was tenderness there that Tony desperately needed to feel. "You're not insane. You never will be, because your mind is beyond brilliant. You are not weak, nor are you feeble, deteriorating, or reckless. Before you went away," Pepper said, setting her phone down on the tray by the chair and bringing the stool up so she could sit. "There were things in your life that I hated. Aspects of you that I wished I could change- your bad habits, your selective judgment…"

Tony laid back against the chair, watching her, absorbing what she was saying and how her pale pink lips moved softly when she spoke.

"And when you came back after those three months I hated myself for feeling those things, for wanting to change you, because I realized not too long after that you _had_ changed and how badly I missed the old Tony," she was looking through the first aid kit, sorting through the supplies. She stopped though, and looked up at him, her blue eyes finding his dark ones. Tony was shocked to the point he sucked in a breath to see her eyes were dewy with tears. Pepper set the first aid kit aside and reached up, taking both of his hands in hers. She was fighting crying, he could tell, and her voice wavered as she whispered. "But you're not changed. You're still here, and you're not leaving- and I… I don't want you to have any reason to."

Silence encompassed both of them, and Tony's heart was pounding hard against the arc reactor so much so that it hurt him.

Pepper watched him. "…you're all I have, Mr. Stark."

Tony swallowed the lump in his throat. He couldn't breathe for a moment, watching this woman who was holding onto him- he was all she had. She had no one else to hold onto, no one else to look to. Tony knew Pepper wasn't weak: she was the strongest woman he had ever known. She held her own and damn, she did a fine job at it, too. But even heroes have a breaking point.

Tony took a deep breath and quietly replied, "You're all I have too, Miss Potts."

Pepper let go of his hands then, and turned back to the first aid kit. She had him fully cleaned and bandaged in an hour. They never talked about the time that both of them broke. Pepper would never mention a psychiatrist again. Tony would call her every time he had to fly out.

And after all was said and done, they never talked about that day again.

**A/N: Review please :)**


	17. In the Stillness

**Author's Note**: I am issuing a formal apology to all of my reviewers. My life has been quite eventful the past few months, but I haven't forgotten my story. With the opening of Iron Man 2 I was on complete cloud nine (I'm not sure there were any of us who weren't), and I meant to update sooner than this. More of these will come, as well, when the DVD is released. I tend to churn out ideas more frequently when I have the movie on hand. I understand if many of you are upset with me. I apologize again!

Surprisingly this story completely took on a life of its own. It was not at all supposed to turn out like this, though I'm really pleased that it did. It was much better than what I originally had in mind, haha.

One last little note: I will be changing my username soon. I have a story that is going to be posted (an Alice in Wonderland story, actually, so if any of you are interested in that, it's going to be fun) soon, and I was going to post it with a new username, however I thought I owed it to all of my Iron Man reviewers to update this first and let you all know. I love you guys, and I hope this makes up for my absence!

Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything… and trust me, if I did, Tony and Pepper would've gotten together _ages_ ago. ;]

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**In the Stillness**

Tony had every idea of what he was doing, but at the same time- like most times- he had none at all. Not that it really bothered him, because he found improvising to be an art that took cultivating. The fact he was extremely good at "winging it" (Pepper's words) was a bit offensive to his pride, but not as much as Rhodey's reference to it all as "lucky bullshit."

Of course that's exactly what it was- most of the time.

However, this time, Tony Stark had sat down on the edge of his bed on a rather hot Malibu evening, staring blankly at the window in front of him, unsure of exactly what he had been doing. Oh, the idea he had was fantastic, award winning. He deserved a Nobel for all the genuine effort he'd exerted in thinking it up (in his opinion), but now he just needed to figure out how to get it done. Normally he'd ask for Pepper's help- but since this was a surprise for her, he couldn't very well do that. And Rhodey wouldn't know anything about it either. This was definitely Pepper's department.

But that's what made it so perfect.

Pepper had class. It was unequivocally true that she was a _lady_ in every regard. She had fine taste, and that's what made Tony such a lucky son of a bitch when Pepper took over choosing his clothes, cologne, and other assortments- she knew him, she knew what he liked, and she had the best taste. It wasn't that Pepper couldn't have fun (this brought a Cheshire grin to his face), but she just had her own Pepper Potts tendencies. She preferred classical music to lyrical, she favored deep tones to showy colors, and she most definitely liked to drink wine versus hard liquor.

So, in his attempts (as he had told Fury) to do right by Pepper (which he had been keeping up that end of his word), he had thought out this little scheme. It was exactly one year since she had came down into his workshop, pestering him to sign some forms and jump on an airplane to go half way around the world where his life would change forever. It was her birthday.

And he was going to make sure she didn't have to buy her own present.

So, with one phone call, the basics were all done, but he still hoped this would work. So far, nothing he had done could go wrong, and as he finished tying his tie (something he'd had to remember how to do after years of letting Pepper do it for him), he was putting on his watch when Jarvis chimed in, "Sir, Miss Potts has arrived. She will be ringing the door bell in precisely 10 seconds."

"Great, Jarvis, thanks," murmured Tony, checking to make sure he had his wallet and keys in his pockets. He grabbed his jacket, walking out of his room and to the stairs just as the door bell rang, a minute later swinging open.

"Welcome back, Miss Potts," Jarvis greeted pleasantly, his cool voice just as calm as the trickling waterfall.

"Thanks," came a terrible, burnished voice.

Tony paused for a moment on the steps when he saw Pepper, his eyebrows nearly jumping to the ceiling, before he strode up to her quickly, taking in the sight of her. "Pepper… what _happened_?" He reached out to touch her arm but Pepper put up a hand.

"Don't touch me," she mumbled. "I have the flu."

_Touche,_ Tony thought to himself, seeing his plan completely enfold on itself, but he wasn't mad or even annoyed. Because as he took in Pepper's messy, tied back hair, her red nose, water eyes, and what appeared to be yoga pants and a jacket, his heart did a funny little flip and he grinned.

"You look ravishing."

"Shut up."

Pepper suddenly sneezed behind her handkerchief, moaning softly. "God… everything _hurts._ I know we said we'd go out, but do you mind if we just stay in tonight?" she mumbled, shuffling in and falling face first on the couch.

Tony took a moment of satisfaction as he watched his utterly destroyed girlfriend groan on the couch miserably. He had never seen her so disheveled in all of his life, and while it wasn't funny she was sick, it was pretty hilarious she seemed so loopy. _She must be on some damn good drugs,_ he mused, slipping his jacket back off and tossing it across a chair, rolling his sleeves up and strolling over to where Pepper's head was on the couch.

"Come on, then, sit up," he said.

"Huh?" she mumbled into the sofa.

"Sit up, Potts, you're leaking all over my couch."

Pepper began to sit up and Tony sat down where her head had been, before gently pulling her back so her head was resting on his leg. He smiled down at her, before laughing gently. "God, you look-"

"If you say any form of 'beautiful', I will hit you in the mouth."

"I was going to say completely wrecked."

"I feel like it," she murmured, closing her eyes for a minute, and Tony smiled fondly down at her, resting one hand on her abdomen and the other arm lying over the back of the couch. It was quiet for a long moment, and Tony thought she'd fallen asleep.

"What are you thinking about?" Pepper murmured without opening her eyes.

Tony raised his eyebrows, looking down at her. "I need to make a phone call."

"Am I keeping you?"

"Please, Potts, you've never kept me from anything I've wanted. Including yourself."

Pepper grinned, laughing gently, lifting her handkerchief up to her mouth when her laugh turned into a cough. "Okay, then what are you waiting for? I can get up."

"That's what I don't want. Just stay here for a minute."

Pepper nodded, closing her blue eyes again and Tony lifted his hand and gently dusted a few loose strands of golden red hair from her face. When Pepper didn't stir, Tony peered over her to make sure she was asleep. It was a shame, but not a problem that they had to cancel their plans. Tony didn't let things like that bog him down- he had other things that did that just fine on their own.

"Jarvis, I need you to cancel everything," Tony said quietly just in case Pepper was still awake.

"Very good, sir," Jarvis quipped, and there was silence.

Tony sighed, looking down at Pepper, his eyes sweeping down the couch. He frowned, scratching the back of his head. Wasn't there normally some sort of blanket laying around here? Pepper would know.

_Damn._

He didn't want to wake her by getting up to look, either. She _did_ look very comfortable. Tony gently put his feet up on the coffee table, laying his head back over the back of the couch, his slight obsessive compulsiveness kicking in to be doing something, some sort of busy work. He couldn't honestly remember the last time he'd been so… still.

Being still meant normally that it was going to be quiet, and that was problematic because that left his mind very restless, and his mind would start to drudge up unpleasant thoughts. Things he could've done differently while combating Obadiah- or worse- Ivan. Yes, Obadiah had been a baby bunny compared to Ivan.

Tony was sure he was going to die that night. He wasn't bemoaning it, so much as standing in awe of the fact that after so much blood and sweat (literally) that he'd put into keeping himself alive could've been so easily discounted. But even that wasn't what made him most uncomfortable. Tony closed his eyes, replaying those swirling images in his head from that night. They were blurry, foggy, almost like he'd been hung over the morning after a weekend drinking binge (and those hadn't even been that bad).

He didn't think that Ivan could have killed him. Sure, he'd "come close" to it (in Pepper's overly dramatic opinion), but the thought of defeat when it had come to Whiplash never even occurred to him.

It was a great strategy in business, too.

But again, it hadn't had anything to do with Vanko. It was _after_ the battle with Ivan that he felt his heart swell so much so fast he was sure he was going to fall out of the sky from a blackout.

Tony lifted a hand subconsciously to the arc reactor in his chest, swallowing a hard lump in his throat at the memory. It had been the worst pain he'd ever felt, even more than when he'd had his chest carved open by Yinsen. No, this pain had been life staggering. He had realized that the drones were rigged, the red light sitting in his mind's eye like a serpent's eye glaring at him. Energy had pounded through his veins and he blasted out of the globe, flying as fast as he could. His heart had began to swell around the arc reactor, nearly breaking his ribs. Panic was accelerating behind his eyes and he couldn't breathe, _wouldn't_ breathe. He stretched and pushed himself in the suit as if to urge it farther faster, sweat dripping in his eyes.

_Pepper was about to die and he couldn't do a thing about it._

All of those times, the heartfelt glances, lingering touches, and words unspoken suddenly were the blackest memories he could ever have in those seconds that he could've sworn were hours that took him to get to those steps. But then he had seen her- standing innocently in those sleek black Louboutins, her phone in her hand, feet away from one of Vanko's drones. His mouth had gone dry and he let out a hard grunt as he shoved himself forward in flight, urging on what was already faster than inhumanely possible for something his size.

He could feel the heat of the explosion at the bottom of his feet as he blasted straight up into the air. It had all taken as long as one heart beat, from being in such a panic driven desperation to suddenly holding Pepper in his arms, speeding up into the air. He hadn't even seen it happen; it had been a miracle that she had gotten into his arms with how fast he'd jerked her up. He was sure he'd broken her somehow, twisted her wrong, or crushed her arms- something terrible that he'd done in his urgency to pull her up into the sky with him.

But he hadn't, and he could recall her screaming against the suit, because it had made his ears ring painfully. He remembered one of her shoes had fallen off, hurtling back to the scene of the wreckage, and how she had gripped his shoulders as tightly as she could, her hair whipping in the wind and whimpering heartbreakingly.

It had been two full heart beats and the heat was far behind them, and they were coasting through the air, landing on a roof. He'd clawed at his helmet, staring at her as long as he could through the screen. Her face had been horrified and glorious at the same time, staring at him in complete fear and wonderment. Then her face had enveloped into that familiarly passionate anger that caused her eyes to burn blue and her cheeks stain a rose hued flush.

Tony could remember he had told her something. She had been wild in fear and anger, yelling at him about the insanity of it all (he _did_ agree to that), and he had yelled back at her, though he couldn't remember for the life of him what it was either of them had said (something about strawberries?).

It had only been a second or two, maybe, but everything had started to run together at that point, and Tony wasn't exactly known for being a patient man. He had pulled her body against his, then, and it was such a shame he had been unable to feel her body, soft, trembling, and strong against his own. His hands had encompassed her slender hips, and his lips had descended on hers hungrily, both of them breathless and winded but devouring each other's lips at the same time. It was wild and unrelenting but so deep and soulful (did that even make sense?), and Tony had felt so high, all of his senses assaulted by her presence.

"Tony?"

Tony jerked, his eyes snapping open and realizing he was still on his couch, but the sun was nearly down over the Malibu horizon. He looked down and saw that Pepper was awake, her eyes not as glassy as they had been. Pepper looked up at him, studying his eyes in just a breath before slowly sitting up.

"What's wrong?" she asked, running a hand down his arm. "You look di-"

Tony wrapped his hand suddenly around the wrist of the hand she'd laid on his arm and yanked her forward forwardly so she was laying up against his chest and he kissed her fluidly all in one motion, holding her tight against his chest, the arc reactor pressing against her breasts- he could feel her heartbeat almost inside him. He kissed her deeply, his hands sliding up her legs where he'd been holding her up and resting to cup her hips and gently moved her so she was sitting across his lap. She hadn't kissed him back automatically, so startled by his abruptness, but her arms slid around his neck, her fingers burying into his beautiful thick black hair.

Pepper was the one to break the kiss, for a moment. "Tony, I have the flu, are you crazy? You'll-"

Tony proceeded to kiss her cheek bones, her chin, her nose, over both her eyes, hushed murmurs breathing against her skin, "I love you, Pepper."

Pepper didn't breathe for a long moment, and Tony's furiously deep brown eyes watched her with such longing. She swallowed, one hand dragging down over his shoulder to his chest.

"…and happy birthday," he added, kissing her forehead tenderly. She didn't say anything, but Tony almost didn't want her to. It wouldn't have been sincerely Pepper, and after all, he wanted to earn it. He'd always been up to a challenge, and he looked forward for earning Pepper's love to be his Sistine Chapel.

Once she was able to form words, her voice cracked and she was flushed a fetching coral color. "I… I was going to say… I was feeling better…"

"We don't have to go anywhere," Tony said. "Only if you feel up to it."

"I do, I do," she said quietly, smiling gently. "I just need to change clothes."

Tony gently helped her to her feet, stretching gently and smiling down at her, running his thumb over her lips. "Jarvis?"

Pepper blushed, pressing a sweet little kiss to his thumb.

"Yes, sir?"

"Call the Museum of Modern Art, back, please," Tony said, winking at Pepper as her eyes flickered questioningly. "We will be attending Pepper's birthday dinner after all."

"The Museum? That's not a restaurant, Tony. Did you hear what you just said?" Pepper asked, amused.

"Well where else do you suggest we start building back _our_ collection from, Miss Potts?" asked Tony, smirking triumphantly at Pepper's face lighting up like the Eiffel Tower at New Year's.

Oh yes. He deserved a Nobel Prize for this one.

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Review please!


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